Day 76-Sun, 15 Mar 09-S.Padre Island to Lafayette, Louisianna

Photos: Hurricane Ika damage in Galveston area. These picture don't even begin to show the overall damage. As per Katrina, it will take years for re-building and clean-up.

We left S.Padre Island yesterday under cloudy skies and cool temperatures...made it whole lot easier to day goodbye. It poured rain all day, stopping just long enough for us to pull in to the Houston West RV Park. Unfortunately, there was a big rodeo in the city and every hotel/motel/RV park was filled to the gunnels, this one included. She offered to let us stay in the front yard and plug in to the office outlet...for $3. Given that we wouldn't find anything else, we took it. Before we settled in though, we drove 10 miles down the road to the Katy Mills Outlet Centre and poked for a couple of hours. It didn't take us long when we got back to fall into bed and sleep like rocks.

We were both up before 6 am and decided to pack up and try and get some miles in so that we could spend a couple of nights in New Orleans. Before we left the manager arrived and apologized for charging us and gave us back the $3. Wayne couldn't stop smiling!

It was still pounding rain until we reached Galveston and stopped for a short time while we drove around and looked at the damages and improvements since Hurricane Ike went through last year. We went downtown first to the historic area that we had enjoyed so much last year. It looks as though most of the building damage has been repaired externally, but very few businesses are open yet. We passed the old city cemetery and of course, Lynne the ghoul had to go in and look around. Most of the graves were pre-1900 and it's like a history class to walk through and read the plaques and graves. I loved it! We drove around looking at the wonderful old plantation homes that make up the greater part of downtown Galveston. The bigger, more opulent homes have been restored but it wasn't unusual to see one that hadn't been renovated yet. There were very few houses without blue building permits in a window. The worst areas were those that had older homes, probably owned by poorer people and they were just abandoned. A few had signs on them saying, "No trespassing--health hazard". That says it all.

We went to East Beach which is on the gulf side of the city and that is where we started to see the full extent of the damages. The beach was so beautiful there and now there is nothing but piles and piles of debris that has been washed in on the tide. A man pulled in beside us and we started to talk about the hurricane and how things are progressing. 'Oscar' was such a nice guy but has lost everything and now sleeps in his car. He does drywalling and said there should be lots of work for him but went on a rant about 'wetbacks' (illegial aliens) who have moved in to the area and although not qualified, are offering to do the jobs so cheap that no-one will hire him to do quality work. He lost everything in the hurricane and only has the clothes and few possessions he was able to rescue before Ike hit.

We took the ferry across to the penninsula where Oscar had told us Ike hit the worst. The water had come in to Galveston about 30 feet high but he told us that the biggest damage was done when the water receeded...it literally sucked everything out with it, including people who decided to stay vice evacuating. When we got off the ferry, it only took a short distance to see the damage! I can't begin to explain the impression that stays with you when seeing this kind of devistation and I honestly thought...this looks like what would be left if a nuclear bomb was dropped...it's almost more than you can take in. There used to be thousands of big, beautiful homes built on stilts...now there is just miles of stilts, debris that has been bulldozed into hundreds of big piles, boats and RVs in the middle of fields, a smaller cottage sitting upside down in the middle of a field and on and on. There is paper & plastic garbage everywhere and some places where people are starting to re-build.

One of the things I was most interested to see was Gilchrist...a small town on the penninsula...for obvious reasons. We'd seen a photo on the internet, and then a TV report on the weather channel, showing that every house but ONE, was swept away. We never did find it...there's just nothing left.

As luck would have it, we met a lady in the welcome centre who owned a summer house there and told us what it was like after Ike. Their first trip there to see the damage was a real shock as all that was left was the stilts of their cottage. She said the only way they even knew where their cottage had been was because another brick building near their's was still partially standing. People are now going back and putting stakes in the ground with their old house numbers in order to identify their property. She said there were hundreds of cars littering the road there, that had come in on the tide from other areas. She also told us that the big debris piles cannot be removed until cadaver dogs are brought in to search for (still) missing bodies. She also told us about a town that is inland from the penninsula that just vanished...nothing left but debris.

Although it all sounds depressing..and I know it's awful for those still living there...I'm really glad we saw it so that we have a better understanding of the impact of a hurricane. We loved Galveston last year and hope things get better...except who has heard anything about Katrina lately? It will be years. Sorry Carl, no t-shirt from Gilchrist this year...or ever I'm guessing.

It's still pouring rain...enough already. Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx