We probably won’t know if Galveston lives or dies till after the aircraft go up and get back tomorrow morning...0900-1000 or later, depending on windfields on the back side.
Got a feeling Port Arthur will be...late...checking in.
Galveston officials are planning on meeting at 12 noon to assess preliminary damage reports; live media reports from the island indicate that large portions of the area were flooded from the sea, then from the bay.
Galveston will still exist, but there have been several reported fires on the island, fire officials have not been able to respond to them, and the fear is that the fires took several buildings.
Media also shows that some block wall structures fell over and were separated by high winds when the eye-wall crossed; they're only half way through the storm; the back side of the eyewall will be on Galveston at around 3:50am CST, coming from the opposing direction which will cause further damage and likely more bay flooding.
So... Yeah, NOAA overflights with their pictures are likely going to be the first real accounting of the damage, but we are going to see a lot of Katrina like debris bands stretching from the bay to almost the seawall across most of Galveston. The most exposed homes will likely be destroyed either by fires or winds, displaced by waters.
Ugh, rambling, sorry. :)