Galveston surveying homes empty since Ike

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - Some of the estimated hundreds of damaged homes abandoned since Hurricane Ike could be purchased by Galveston, a city official said.

Spokeswoman Alicia Cahill says a count is under way to determine how many houses in the island city, slammed by Ike on Sept. 13, 2008, are abandoned. The count is expected to reach the hundreds, Cahill said.

The Houston Chronicle reported Monday that the city counted 14 abandoned homes on one street in Bayou Shores.

Galveston leaders are concerned that houses damaged by the storm surge will lower property values, become eyesores or attract the homeless or stray animals. "They invite mischief," Cahill said.

State officials have said Ike was the costliest natural disaster in Texas history, with overall damage topping $29 billion. The Insurance Council of Texas last week said Ike left behind nearly $12 billion in insured damage.

"We referred to this neighborhood as a ghost town for the first year after the storm," said Tanya Fabian, 51, who expects to move into her rebuilt Bayou Shores home in a few weeks. "It's scary at night."

Galveston has hired additional zoning inspectors to enforce city codes to keep the houses from becoming eyesores. The city may use part of a recent $160 million federal housing grant to buy some of the properties, Cahill said.

"For me it's too late," said Esmeralda Banda, 40. Like many Bayou Shores residents, a year was too long to wait for the federal money.

Cahill acknowledged that the money was late in coming but said the federal bureaucracy moves slowly and there was nothing city officials could do to speed the process.

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Information from: Houston Chronicle,

http://www.houstonchronicle.com

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)