Baytown marina's boats grounded after Ike

www.txcn.com -- (BAYTOWN, Texas) In some cases, the Hurricane Ike cleanup process seems to be moving along in high gear in Baytown. For boat owners at the Bayland Marina, though, it’s a different story.

“I got one of my cushions from my boat and I have been sleeping on it for two weeks,” said boat owner Tom Chitwood.

Because of Ike’s huge storm surge, the entire marina was picked up, tossing boats like toys and placing them on land. About 85 boats are now landlocked with few answers as to how and when help will come to get them back in the water.

“I would just like to be back in the water where I was,” said Chitwood, looking at his boat that rests on its side along the shore.

Chitwood and other boat owners know there are bigger storm-related issued in Baytown to deal with, but they want to know what the city’s next move is at the marina.

“We hear rumors is all we have been hearing,” said boat owner Phillip Bailey.

Meanwhile, the armed boat owners are working shifts to keep away looters.

Baytown’s City Manager Garry Brumbach said that the process to get the boats picked up is a complicated one. The city manager said he has been working with FEMA and the city’s insurance company as well as private insurers and it’s a mess.

The goal is to get a crane company out to the marina as soon as possible and rebuild the marina. That is if the federal government will pay for it.