Thursday, July 24, 2008

Hello, Dolly

Everyone see the weather news the past couple of days? South Padre Island got hit, but good. And Brownsville, Matamoros, Harlingen, etc. If you all remember, South Padre Island is my old stomping grounds. It is where I finally found my "out loud" voice to match my "inside voice," it is yet another small town that I fell in love with(except during Spring Break), it is where I made many small and insignificant stands in my life that turned out to mean the world to me, it is where I walked the beaches every single morning and every single afternoon with my very best friend.... it is where Michael and I met and fell in love...it holds a special place in my heart. In the four years I lived there, I evacuated twice due to hurricane warnings, and sat through one storm, trying to hold my front door shut while the wind wanted to pull it off. It hit so fast, there were no storm warnings. Technically speaking, it wasn't even a hurricane, but a straight wind of 100+ miles per hour, creating a couple small tornados....and a whole lot of damage...once I watched a water spout hit the causeway, the only way off the island. Just after 9/11(so it barely got any news coverage), a barge ran into the support beams of that causeway, collapsing a large section of the bridge. 11 cars fell over the edge. 8 people died. Some of them, people I once knew.
And again, people I once knew are facing the hazards of gulf living...and I hope they are all well and safe. My prayers and wishes are with you all.
This was my first(short-lived) job in Padre...at the Radisson.


This is a couple blocks from my apartment on the bayside...although, it's hard to tell. It may actually be the corner of my street. It's been a while, and I don't technically "recognize" that building, but the docks look right. When I stayed through the one storm, those docks were flying debris in the air, and the guy who owned that building(which may be the same one with a facelift) had just brought in a pontoon boat for doing dinner cruises...literally. It had been tied at the dock for one day. That storm picked it up straight out of the water and put it back in....upside down.


This was Padre Boulevard yesterday, the main road. The whole island is a barrier island. Maybe 6-8 blocks wide, at it's widest point. Hightest elevation is about 25 feet above sea level. Obviously a lot less yesterday.
The hotel where Michael and I used to go watch Big Band Phil play once a week for date night got hit pretty hard. By the way, Sandyfeet, that's her photostream there with Big Band Phil, is a bit of a local celebrity. There's bound to be some good storm photos on that sight soon. Once the power is back up.
Anyhoo, I have been a little ocd with the news today... trying to catch of glimps of anything I recognize...or anyone.
So, you all take care out there.
Stay safe and dry.
Be well.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen the news yet today, but will turn on the tube when I hit the sack. Willi was there in his younger days. Keeping your heart place in my thoughts.

Michael Colvin said...

Wow, I can't imagine what it must be like to experience something like that. We don't really get that sort of weather here.

Heidi the Hick said...

I have to think I'd be better with blizzards than hurricanes, but I guess that's just a case of familiarity.

It must be so strange to see a place that used to be home get damaged like that.

Anonymous said...

Like Tod says we don't have that sort of weather , it must be so frightening.

Biddie said...

We had a brief flood last Tuesday. Some roads were completely underwater and one man had to be rescued from his submerged car. It was scary, and thankfully, very short lived.
Love the photo of pretty Maggie :)

CindyDianne said...

We were down in the Hill Country last week and got quite a lot of rain off of it. It was needed rain though.



You have an award over at my place.

captain corky said...

I can't imagine the horror of having a bridge collapse while driving over it.

Olly said...

That looks pretty intense. I don't think I could live with that happening from time to time. Even some of the prairie storms were a little too much for me.

Gardenia said...

Going through these things is awful - my heart went out to Texas and I was shamefully glad that we weren't being hit again.

I love the south, but we've been hit by electricity hard enough to blow the sheetrock off our walls, the $32,000 tornado, and then Hurricane Ivan - where only three blocks down the road the surge took homes down to toothpicks.

But I don't want to leave...when its good, its very very good - being close to the water is healing as you relate in the first of your blog post, yes?