The photo doesn't really capture exactly how heart wrenching it is. Directly across the street is an entire tent city.I imagined conversations between the Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane Ike discussing exactly how Ike would help the Gulf get her beach back from those pesky humans.
But we had this actual conversation on the road between Galveston and San Luis beach:
Uh huh. For some other road. Just because the sign was sitting there right by OUR road (the one that was in perfect condition just about this time last year) doesn't mean a THING. Nope.
The-Guy-Who-Knows-A-Song-About-A-Chicken - "Did you see that sign?"
Me - "You mean the one that said, 'Road Closed'?"
The-Guy-Who-Knows-A-Song-About-A-Chicken - "Yes"'
Me - "It must mean some other road. There are cars coming from the opposite direction. See? Yeah. It's gotta be for some other road"
So we come upon this first hole in the road and I'm thinking, "Oh yeah. I guess it IS our road that's closed. That's a hole in the road alright."
The holes in the road got bigger the farther we went: 
Until finally the road was washed out altogether and we were driving on sand: 
And then, finally, we had to take a detour:
No joke - that detour sign points directly onto the beach. So yeah, we drove along the beach long enough to wonder if we'd be on the beach all the way to Surfside. Luckily we flagged down an AT&T truck driving the opposite direction whose driver let us know the road was okay not too very far ahead. I'd like to say something clever about seeing an AT&T truck driving along the beach, but it was really just too surreal to even try.
Around Houston, recovery is plugging along. Houses are ever so slowly recovering their roofs.
People from out of town get lost a lot more often, but they just think the city's roads are not well marked. They don't realize right away that actually a good number of our signs blew away during Ike.
And, of course, we still have a good number of upside down silhouette people wandering around town:
So that's how it's going in Ike-sville. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
15 comments:
Wow that must have been some hurricane. Are they not rebuilding because not enough people live around there anyway or just because they haven't got around to it?
And those upside down people must be gymnasts I can't stand much less walk topsy-turvy
That's crazy. And driving on the beach is crazy. You're officially in the Twilight Zone.
Why is the Gulf of Mexico female?
As a sign of your commitment to him and to stop yourself from getting carpet-flannel-syndrome, isn't it time you started using initials for your chicken-song friend? Hasn't he earned it? (I'm not saying a full name. Let's not go crazy here. I'm just trying to save your hands from being amputated).
SJ - My guess is that it has something to do with time or money or both. I have a friend living in an apartment still because they've gotten the roof repaired but having managed to get to any of the interior damage yet. I think with insurance things go slowly and then there's the matter of finding someone to do the work who isn't already swamped.
The crazy thing is, we didn't even go through some of the worst areas!
People - I needed a gender for that particular sentence and I thought female sounded better. The guy & the older gal agreed, so female it is. :-)
On the name - yeah, carpet-flannel-syndrome...none for me thanks. I've actually been thinking of putting up a cast of characters kind of thing on the sidebar, since I tend to swap out between the long name and "Razor" & I imagine that gets confusing. Of course, people tell me my blog is confusing regardless. I just tell them I don't aim for clarity. *shrug shrug* :-)
I am amazed, and not in a good way. There should be outrage. Has the media continued to cover how this area seems to have been just left to die?
Ike sucked in so many ways. For me, it cost me a bathroom floor, two months of work and a girlfriend. I want to find an I Like Ike button from the Eisenhower campaign and write FAIL across it and wear it wherever I go.
Sorry, had to be said. :)
Ok, I am laughing at the "it must be for some other road" comment, lol.
Gingersnaps - I was also amazed at how little coverage the hurricane got. There was next to nothing even though only this past Tuesday they found another body that's maybe a hurricane related death.
Oh no Jeff!!!! I didn't know that. I'm sorry. :-( I was lucky - we were going to move anyway & lucked out as far as the new place not getting damaged. I'll bet my old apartment still doesn't have a ceiling though.
Yeah, I can be pretty oblivious that way. I'm glad - I'm thinking you could use the laugh.
Wow, those photos are just sobering. I can't imagine going through something like that.
Well i hope you had a great turkey day also. Looks like there is a long road to recovery ahead for the area at large. I can't imagine how long it will take till things get back to normal.
Seeing an AT&T truck out and about is odd.
I mean an AT&T truck out on the beach.
I heard about the (lack of) recovery on Rachel Maddow's program and just didn't believe it. I do now. Wow.
Came over from People In the Sun. Great site!
Janet - Yeah, it's hard to imagine even when you're in it. It's like you think it's over but really it's nowhere near.
Ricardo - I can't even believe we didn't SEE the worst parts!
A Free Man - Rachel Maddow, she has a television show I take it (OKAY! I cheated & googled her!) so that's good that it's been on TV. Yeah, the recovery is slow going, that's for certain. The roofs of Houston are still covered in blue tarp & that's Houston! Poor Galveston & Bolliver, I can't even imagine. And thanks!
I got a couple of tubes of Crazy Glue, if it'll help.
Prayers for those so badly affected. Glad your family's gotten through, Jill.
I think Crazy Glue would just about do the trick! Thanks John!!!! :-) :-) :-)
Incredible... even after all this time, it looks like it just happened!
Love that upside-down sign!
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