Experiencing Hurricane Harvey

Greetings from the island everyone. I hope all of you are doing well and looking forward to the beginning of Fall next week, I know that I sure am.

It’s very rare, if ever, that I have devoted an entire Island Life article on just one subject or happening. But because of Hurricane Harvey, and the physical and emotional strain it brought to myself and very close friends and the community, and the stories that it generated, this will be one of those times.

I am a devoted Weather Channel watcher, most especially June-October, the prime Atlantic tropical storm season. So I was well aware of a tropical depression that was meandering through the Caribean and approaching the Yucatán, with expectations to emerge into the southern Gulf of Mexico and become Tropical Storm Harvey. I was watchful, but not overly concerned about it, as it was originally forecast to remain a high end TS and meander into northern Mexico. But as is often the case, the forecast track shifted northward, now bringing Harvey into south or central Texas, directly towards us, but still remaining a TS or possibly Cat 1 hurricane, not a huge issue.

On Monday, Aug. 21, I began making preparations for a minimal storm, and spoke to my best friend, Susan, to see what she and her husband, Britton, planned to do. Susan is also a die hard Weather Channel tropics watcher, so I knew she was up to speed on the storm. They had planned to stay in POC in their RV, and invited me to stay next door in our friend, Leo’s, vacant RV, so we could help each other if needed. That was the plan. We ran into Port Lavaca for needed grocery and miscellaneous supplies to ride out the minor storm.

Everything was fine and remained status quo, until Thursday morning, Aug. 24, when Harvey was now predicted to become a major Category 3, or higher, hurricane, and the forecast track had a bulls-eye at or very near Port O’Connor, TX. This is not good.

I called to talk to Susan about the newest information, and I could immediately recognize by the tone and emotional fear in her voice, that she already knew how dire the situation had become. I completed my preparations on the island, moving vehicles to high ground, boarding up windows and doors, and moving everything as high up as possible, as a 9-12 feet storm surge was now predicted. All expectations were that this was gonna be a very bad outcome for my home on this barrier island. I then loaded up Corky and headed to POC to help Susan and Britton, and to devise a new plan.

I pulled my boat out of the water and parked it at a friend’s house in POC, filled my truck up with gasoline and grabbed a few items at Speedy Stop. I arrived at Susan’s house and she was a nervous wreck, having never been displaced or threatened by a major hurricane. Of course in thinking back, I had not either, not a major hurricane. The decision was made to pull their RV out of POC, and we would all find a safe place to stay together. This was a blessing for me, as I honestly did not know where I was gonna go.

While at the RV park, we helped their elderly neighbors, Earl and Carla, get prepared to leave as well. Everyone in the RV park was helping their neighbors get prepared and ready to leave. The camaraderie was a great sight to see. And then, like a blessing from above, our great friends, Cricket and Jim, arrived in POC to get their boat and they invited us to convoy back to Seguin with them and stay at their home for as long as needed. Susan had her two dogs, Becca and Abby, and two cats, and I had Corky, and Cricket had accommodations for all the animals, plus RV hookups. God was watching over us.

All of us helped Britton get the RV pulled out of the spot, and while he pulled the camper, I pulled his boat, Susan was in her car with four animals, and we convoyed with Cricket and Jim to Seguin, arriving just after midnight Thursday. It had been a very long day. Susan would later tell me that her thoughts during the road trip, were that she was following her house and I had left mine behind. During that drive, some of which was in bumper to bumper traffic, I had time to think about the possibility of losing everything I had worked so hard for the past nearly 18 years.

Even though we were in a safe and comfortable place the next seven days, the following several days were very emotionally draining. We knew that Hurricane Harvey had become a Category 4 and was gonna make landfall just south of POC, meaning the town and my island home were on the worst side of it. There were times I would look over and see tears rolling down Susan’s face as we watched the weather updates. . . and I admittedly was doing the same, not knowing if we would have a town or home upon returning. Feelings of sickness to the stomach and panic attacks were common for us those first few days.

Susan is the primary photographer and information liaison for the POC Chamber of Commerce Facebook page, and during those first few days prior to and after landfall, she remained vigilant in posting shared photos and all information about the hurricane on Facebook, so that everyone could remain informed and have up to date knowledge of what was happening. Many people were also messaging the Chamber requesting information about damage, public utilities, and offering assistance and delivery of supplies to the community. Susan has continued to provide POC Chamber info about the hurricane and businesses affected, up until the current time.
On Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27, I received a phone call from fellow islanders, Chuck and Cody, who had braved the rough seas and went to the island. Chuck informed me that other than minor damage, my island home was still standing and all appeared well, even the 23 chickens and guineas I had to leave behind were fine. I thanked God and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Britton, Susan and I made a day trip back to POC on that Tuesday to assess damage and do cleanup work at their RV spot, and we found that electricity and water had not yet been restored. While in town, we learned that Bubba’s Smoked Meats and Kathy Pullin were serving meals to anyone that needed food to eat, and many donated supplies were filtering into town. During this time of crisis, Docks Bar & Grill, POC Liquor and Fishermans Chapel were among those instrumental in providing assistance, meals and support for the community, as well as being drop-off locations for incoming donated supplies. To these businesses and people we are very appreciative.

While in town, we also observed that POC suffered damage, but nothing major, and for the most part had been graciously spared the brunt of Hurricane Harvey, unlike our neighboring towns of Seadrift and Port Lavaca.

We returned back to POC the following day and went to the island, where we discovered minimal damage to my property, mainly fence and missing roof shingles. Susan and Britton helped me clean up and get things back situated. I was so very blessed. I have no explanation how the eye of a Category 4 hurricane makes landfall within 50 miles of my barrier island, on the worst side, and I had only minimal damage. Only the hand of God could have been the guiding factor.

With electricity and water having been restored, we returned to POC the following day, Thursday, to stay for good. What a wonderful feeling it was for all of us to be home again. After helping Susan and Britton get their RV back in place and set up, I went back to my island home, seven days after leaving, and began repairs.
I will never forget my emotional experiences with Hurricane Harvey, and how blessed all the islanders were. I want to thank Susan Braudaway for her much appreciated help in writing this article, and the support that she and Britton provided during this prolonged ordeal. POC Strong!!

That’s it from the island for now, everyone take care and have a great day.

The popular sandy beach on Matagorda Island was washed away by Hurricane Harvey. It will probably return with time, but for now it will be known as “Sunday Beach Pass”. -Photo by Larry Likover, M.D.

Folks this is likely my last update as there are too many things going on, including my own stuff..
Now as Paul Harvey is famous for saying: Now the rest of the story.. Well in my case here is some more information with my second “after Harvey” update…

Now that you know some of the skeleton details, we are now in a serious clean-up and restoration phase. As of yesterday AEP has restored power to basically all the City. Are there places within the City that still may be without power? Yes, there very may will be but we’ve tried to canvass the entire city to let AEP know who they may be that is still without power. We can only do so much. Some of you and others like you may also be on VEC. As far as we know VEC power has been restored as well.

As for cleanup I will start describing a little that started on Saturday the 26th. During the day as wind and rain began to calm down the City Crew (in this case Robert Bryant and Terry Jones) and City Police, along with a few members of the County Precinct 4 Commissioner Kenny Finster crew and Kenny Finster, were out surveying the areas. Of course Kenny has a very large area of responsibility but he took the time to also pay attention to the City of Seadrift. By Saturday evening and into the night both groups began clearing the main roads to allow any emergency/relief vehicles to be able to navigate their way to/from the City Hall and Fire Station area. Numerous City Emergency Vehicles as well as County Emergency Vehicles had been evacuated during the day Friday to protect them from winds and possibly high waters. I do not know who all drove the vehicles out of town and some even stayed with the vehicles. Trust me they were not near, most in Victoria near their Fire Stations and Emergency Centers. My thanks to those that ensured the City and Precinct 4 would have fire-fighting capability as soon after as possible.

The clean-up is still progressing and probably still be happening months later. Unfortunately this is not as fast as we would like because of the huge volume of trees, limbs and etc. Just the volume of trees and tree parts is mind-boggling. Here we are 12 days after landfall and we have only been able to pick-up and clear some of the vast amount of piles of trees and tree parts that have been scraped up from roadways and yards and this doesn’t count the other debris from structures and what the 8 to 10 foot storm surge washed up. Please be advised the City will do its best to perform the tree, limbs, brush removal when we can get around to them. When it comes to debris from construction, repairs, and etc. the normal rules apply in that the property owner will be required to provide disposal as usual. For example, a homeowner just bulldozed his structure and simply pushed all of it to the side of the street expecting the City to pick it up. Demolition is the responsibility of the owner. I hate to sound callous, but the City can only afford to do so much and the capability of handling that type of debris is very limited. If the debris has metal in it, the metal should be separated and set beside the road. Eventually I am sure some recyclers will be able to pick it up. If trash/debris will fit in totes and cans and not make them too heavy it should eventually be picked up by normal garbage pickup. Normal weekly waste services are now in operation on the normal days of Thursday & Friday.

I previously mentioned the fuel situation with the first “emergency” deliveries occurring Monday. However I would be remiss in saying that were it not for the fuel supplies that Precinct 4 Commissioner Finster released for the City on Sunday the generators at City Hall, Water Plant and Waste-water Plant would have run out. When the supplies the City ordered came in we were able to reciprocate to Precinct 4… This is cooperation at its best, indeed. There was no red tape here. If we needed something Precinct 4 provided it, if they needed something the City provided if we had it.

A note about the water and MRE’s. After the first water, ice and the reduced amount of MRE’s arrived and was taken within an hour and half, Kenny and myself realized it wasn’t just City residents coming in to get water, ice and MRE’s it was all those residents stretched between Seadrift and Port O’Connor and POC itself that needed things also. Yes when POC realized we had some water and ice and MRE’s they drove as best as they could to Seadrift. They weren’t refused. Our next order for fuel, water, ice and MRE’s took that into consideration. We did not want anyone to go thirsty or hungry. We got some push back from the State because they wanted to know how many we were helping just in the City. However with a little persuasion the District Emergency Operations in Victoria was convinced to submit the larger orders, but then we didn’t receive everything – this is where the “red-tape” issues reared their ugly heads. I digress a little here, but we received only a fraction of what was originally ordered during the Hurricane and afterwards through this past Wednesday and have never received any of the many other things that was requested.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Finster tried to attend the daily SITREP meetings at City Hall, but due to his vast duties in the rest of Precinct 4 was unable to attend all.

If you are wondering the city’s two wind turbines appeared to weather the hurricane well with no visible damage. However they will remain off until a thorough inspection can be performed to determine their condition before returning to service.

Finally I want to again thank all those involved in either staying, showing up and volunteering over the last 12 days. Special thanks go to Ernie Paiz our contact at DDC17 in Victoria – the local Disaster District in Victoria of the State TDEM who went out of his way and bypassed some normal channels to get the initial materials ordered and delivered. Thank you Kenny Finster Precinct 4 Commissioner! Thank you All the Fire Department Volunteers! Thank you City Crews and City Staff in keeping City Hall open long hours and through this past weekend. Thank you Police Chief Bermea and Officers and Reserve Officers for patrolling, checking on people and providing assistance. Thank you to all those volunteers and agencies that have come to Seadrift bringing untold numbers of everything, from water, food, clothing, baby things, personal hygiene items and thank you to those that have come later, though we may have turned you away and sent you elsewhere such as the Churches and other groups, individuals and organizations to help with the distributions. The Salvation Army has been here since around Monday and have been feeding continuously since then at 12:30pm and 5:30pm. At the peak during one meal approximately 750 people were served lunch on Sunday.

If I’ve missed other’s I am sincerely sorry… So much has been going on.. The days have and are running together with long hours and many, many faces and names hard to remember.

I know there is much more to tell – maybe a book sometime? Haha..

I would say “until next time” but I hope there is NOT a next time!

My heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all!

Elmer DeForest, Mayor, City of Seadrift

by Erny McDonough

Harvey will always be etched in our minds! Sorry about all you who have Harvey as your given name, for when we hear it, we will immediately remember the Mandatory Evacuation, the boil water order, and sewage backing up into our homes! We will remember the long gas lines or the stations without any gasoline at all. We will remember the lost furniture and parquet flooring. Sorry – but that is now what our minds will go to! And what about those who lost their homes, their jobs, and even their hope? BUT – NONE OF US LOST OUR LIVES!

There is an elm tree that came up voluntarily several years ago, which I harbored until it was large enough that it would not be mowed down. Harvey took all of its leaves – not one remained when we returned from our “flight”! But, now the leaves are returning, just as Port O’Connor is coming back and will be as full as ever if not even better – PORT O’CONNOR STRONG!

We suffered together and now we must mend together. And we are doing it! Since the Chapel has been one of the many distribution points for this community, we have seen all kinds of generosity displayed. Most have heard of the Project Lighthouse, where many volunteers traveled from the safety of their dwellings in Fort Worth to the dirty, smelly, hot and “mosquito infested” swamps of our community. Jimmy came from Waco and led the efforts to help clean up one of our beach communities close by. We have had people here from Edmond, Oklahoma, who brought things to help. Men drove over 500 miles one way just to bring in building materials and comfort items. A man came to the Chapel from Denton just to help and say that he loves us. (I know the moment that I began listing people, I would miss some very important ones – but please overlook my lack of a good memory!)

People of this Port O’Connor have come and almost lived at the Chapel to help make sure that everyone who had a need was served. Bubba’s fed hundreds, Docks fed hundreds, a group from Three Rivers fed hundreds, and individuals have helped each other! People have once again began realizing we are a community and are coming together and helping each other! Remember who Jesus said was our neighbor? (Hint – it was the man in need!)

Being an old preacher, I have gone to many funerals and had family members tell me that the funeral was the first Family Reunion they had had in years! WHY? Why wait until a tragedy occurs to get together? Do it often!

Maybe it is too early to make a new suggestion about the future outlook of our community, but I would love to see more than just a Community Thanksgiving Service and an Easter Sunrise Service! Why not more? When we come together and share a common meal, we will get to know each other – who know, we might even find greater common ground! Port O’Connor is a unique place and has always been known for helping those in need, but why wait until another crisis hits us to unite as we are doing now!

I know this is not my normal “Chapel Happenings” article, but we are working long hours trying to help serve this community with the love of Jesus through helping to meet their needs. Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenominational congregation that aims to serve the people of Port O’Connor the best way we know how. One will always find a warm welcome here, so we urge you to, “Come, grow with us!”

Part of the POC Relief Team Lighthouse

Posted on Facebook by Stephanie Shepherd

This trip was such a blessing. We packed up donations and our heavy hearts and headed South, unsure of what to expect–but with the intention to help whomever we could. We came to the coast not knowing anyone and left with lasting friendships and full hearts. It was an honor to serve Port O’Connor, Tivoli and Seadrift and meet such kind-hearted, appreciative people. We cried with people that lost their homes and laughed with each other to keep our spirits high. The damage was heart breaking to see in person and though it seemed overwhelming, we all banned together and did what we needed to do to help who we could. I saw God’s work manifested through each and every person in this group and did not hear one complaint the entire trip, despite the long, hot days and hundreds of thousands of baby pterodactyl mosquitoes. I truly could not have asked to spend the last 4 days with a better group of people. Everyone was so positive and had a shared goal to do as much as we could in the short time we were there. (It also helped that everyone had a great sense of humor, as well.) The locals were so hopeful, despite the suffrage they have endured. Some people lost everything, but were still asking what they could do to help US. It was a humbling experience on so many levels. It restored my faith in humanity and reminded me that even in tragedy, our God is GOOD. Please keep all of those affected in your prayers, for they have a long road of recovery ahead of them. Texas has proven that it is resilient and full of grit and I am SO proud to be a part of this great state.