September 13, TAMU Press will be releasing After Ike: Aerial Views from the No-Fly Zone
Flagship Hotel - Galveston, TX - After Ike - © Bryan Carlile,TAMU Press, 2009
“With a force I pray we never witness again, Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast on September 13, 2009. The days following landfall were challenging, stressful, depressing, and yet I felt exhilarated. The world around me was without power, communication, fuel; people were suddenly rendered homeless and hungry. For those with homes, many felt they could not leave, trapped by the idea of vandalism, theft, or further water and wind damage. Flooded streets prevented travel for others. It was in this frenetic, disorganized atmosphere that I found consolation in a cockpit, escaping the tragedies that had befallen my friends and family by documenting the wrath of Hurricane Ike.”
Carlile, Bryan. After Ike: Aerial View from the No-Fly Zone. College Station: TAMU Press, 2009.
I was in Galveston the day before Ike made landfall. I was posting, mostly on Twitter, of the flooding that was covering much of Galveston Island 24 hours before landfall. My girlfriend and I left Galveston before 10AM after only a couple of hours there. Yet, many were still on the island when we left. Watching the news reports after Ike had cleared was very surreal. Seeing places we had just been the day prior that no longer existed or had tremendous structural damage.
My biggest regret was that, while I had taken plenty of videos and photos, I felt I wanted to better document the before and after. Bryan Carlile has done that. Over 100 photographs are included in this 128-page book. Among the photos you’ll see one or two beach homes standing surrounded by the debris of tens of others. You’ll see the devastation that many residents here had not seen since Hurricane Alicia. And you’ll see the effects of a storm that shut down Houston for days.
Seawall Blvd, Galveston, TX - After Ike - © Bryan Carlile, TAMU Press, 2009
Mark Greenblatt, an investigative reporter for Houston’s KHOU-TV, writes:
“In “After Ike”, Carlile transforms the wrath of Ike that I witnessed from reporting on the ground for KHOU-TV, into a historically significant treasure for all by capturing the depth and breadth of Ike’s destructive forces from the air. Far more than a book of simple photos, Carlile’s sharp eye and acclaimed skills as an aerial photographer serve as a tour guide, through the eye of an artist, to one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever make landfall.”
Crystal Beach - After Ike - © Bryan Carlile, TAMU Press, 2009
“After Ike” will be released September 13, 2009. You can reserve your copy at Amazon.com today
Special thanks to Bryan Carlile, author of After Ike, Texas A&M University Press and Holli Estridge for allowing me to show photos and excerpt from the book.
This article was originally published August 21, 2009 and is republished September 9, 2009 to add photos and book excerpt.
