Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc in southeast Texas and western Louisiana after it made landfall near Galveston on the Gulf Coast about 50 miles southeast of Houston. Thousands of homes and buildings were flooded or totally demolished, roads were washed out, and an estimated 2.6 million people lost electrical power.

Following the devastating blow of Hurricane Ike, which left 13 people dead, coastal towns and cities, continue to struggle to recover from the storm’s sweeping blast without electricity, food, water, gasoline and essential services. Officials in Texas issued alerts that some homes and businesses may be without power for a month or more in the hardest-hit coastal areas. Many communities have announced curfews which are still in effect to help curtail looting. President Bush declared 29 Texas counties and parts of Louisianans major disaster areas

Global Aid Network is working in partnership with Convoy of Hope to establish a staging warehouse to participate in distributing emergency aid in both Port Arthur, Texas, hit hard by the “dirty side” of Ike, and in the Houston area. Already distribution operations are set up in Port Arthur where six truck loads of aid have been delivered and are being distributed. Today, a point of distribution will be operational in the Houston area. Current plans are to be able to fund and position one truck load of ice, water, and food each day in these locations.   So far, 17 to 20 loads of emergency aid are expected to be delivered and distributed among people struggling to restart life again along the Texas coast.

Additionally, as a result of the impact of Hurricane Ike in Haiti, Global Aid Network is sending two containers of food for thousands of people in need.