After doing some unloading today, we drove around to see the area... it is heartbreaking to see shattered homes and businesses. Lots of blue tarp roofs and boarded over windows. A few "We're Open" signs in front of businesses that have patched together to try to keep things going. One bayside bar looked like the building was ready to collapse, but there were a half dozen people at the bar. Our favorite bayside, sunset-watching bar and grill was open... the roof is gone, there is a tarp suspended over the seating, and they are cooking on a big gas grill... you can order from anything on the menu, as long as it's shrimp or a hamburger. Trying to maintain some normalcy and a sense of humor.

South Padre Island seemed to take the brunt of it. When the wind switched to the west and kicked up, the homes and business on the bayside were really battered. It didn't matter if you were on the ground floor or 7 floors up... lots of water damage. A once-beautiful Luhrs sportfisher still sits onshore above the seawall - evidence of the power of Nature. I took a camera along, but couldn't bare to shoot anything.

The damage we received is minimal compared to many here. The palm tree in front of our place stayed standing (many were snapped off or toppled), but it looks like it's doing an impersonation of Fritz the Cat. We won't be putting Wild Blue at the dock until most of it can be replaced. Right now, other than drying things out in our storage area under the house, we are trying to leave things until the insurance adjustor comes out.

Some of the excursion boats were out today, and there were plenty of tourists on SPI; life and business goes on. Most of the big hotels (like the Raddison and the Bahia Mar) are shut down... this is their busiest time of the year. Some marginal businesses won't recover.

We've seen a lot of changes in this area in the 13 years we've been a part of the community. It was looking good... and it will again.

We have seen what a Category 5 looks like when Iniki devastated Kauai. This was a "weak Category 2" (not "weak" when you talk to those who stayed). It left almost all of our buildings standing, and didn't cost anyone their life.