Title: HIWI: IKE

by ttweak (Editor)

240 pages, 9 x 6", soft cover with dust jacket/ Over 230 photographs by 69 photographers/ 26 text contributors/ Art quality, meticulously designed and bound. Late Friday, September 12, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit Galveston Island and the Texas Gulf Coast and continued its track inland through Houston, Dallas and as far north as Indianapolis. Many Galveston residents chose to remain on the island despite the National Hurricane Center's warning of "certain death" for those who did so. Likewise, after witnessing the disastrous mass exodus preceding Hurricane Rita three years earlier, Houstonians were inclined to hunker down too. And hunker down they did. Houstonians met their neighbors while preparing for the storm, stayed together with friends and family during the storm, worked and cleaned up together after the storm, and endured the days, even weeks, without electricity. Without air conditioning. In Houston. At the end of summer. Together. In the spirit of The Book, Houston. It's Worth It. asked Houstonians to submit their accounts of Ike. This result is a personal perspective from some of those who experienced it, to remind Houstonians that, despite the occasional natural disaster, our city is very much still "worth it." And while there were plenty of photos of destruction (with apologies, not all submitted photos of fallen trees are included), the camaraderie and support brought about in the storm's aftermath was well documented in photographs and words, proving yet again that it takes more than a big storm to break the spirit of a Houstonian or of our neighbors to the south in Galveston.

216 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Houston: It's Worth It! a brilliant website that has birthed a grassroots movement of appreciation for all that Houston is/has/represents. This book is about Hurricane Ike, and again captures the amazing, friendly, hardworking heart of Houston - that intangible that does indeed make it worth it!