Issue date: 6/2/09 Section: News

Media Credit: File Photo Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast September 13, 2008. Galveston's 58,000 residents were orded to evacuate only two days prior.

Nearly a year after Hurricane Ike hit, things are still not back to normal for Sea Aggies in Galveston.

The A&M Galveston campus is still recovering from the damage and the first-ever relocation to College Station.

"The one thing that we underestimated is how hard this would be for our students," said Stephen Conway, director of Computing and Information Services. "We expected things to be back to normal but we became basically behind. This whole semester has been a catching-up semester."

Relocation was a big change and was arduous for some, said Conway.

"The main campus was extremely cooperative and we couldn't have asked for more, but it was still difficult for the freshmen and other students," Conway said. "We lost some training classes but we were really lucky."

Ninety-one percent of the student body was relocated and were back in classes within a week of the relocation, according to Conway.

Ike showed the campus' strengths in evacuating procedures but also that there is room for improvement, said Assistant Vice President for Administration Brad McGonagle.

"We have revised our hurricane plan and we have made some changes since Ike," said McGonagle. "We are ready for another hurricane season. The season we prepare and become aware of really begins around Sept. 1 because that is the most severe time in the Atlantic."

Contrary to popular belief, most of the campus' damage was confined to the waterfront.

"It's actually a misconception that there were necessary renovations to the campus," said director of Media Relations and Communications Karen Bigley. "The reason that the campus shut down was not for campus damage - there was damage, and it was significant, but none of our buildings were flooded. It was also not because the city required it, but rather that circumstances did."

There was roof damage to two of the main buildings, one of which contains the bookstore, financial aid and post office. Also, there was a great deal of debris scattered all over the campus.

The road leading to Pelican Island was heavily damaged.

"The recovery was an entire Aggie experience," said McGonagle. "A local contracting business, Aggie owned and operated, repaired the road to Pelican Island right away. Then another contracting business, also Aggie-based, came out and cleaned all the debris from the campus. So it was really Aggies helping Aggies."

More than 800 students and faculty were displaced by the hurricane.

"I heard a quote that stands true that says 'a busy hurricane season is when the hurricane hits you.' We can only plan strategically, which isn't the most effective, and there will always be a certain level of risk," said Conway. "The students, faculty and staff have anxiety for hurricane season because we don't want to go through that again; we could, but we don't want to. There is a sense of loss and grief and that takes time but there is also perseverance."

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