It appears that not all hurricane aftermaths are created equal. Following hurricanes Dolly, Eduoard and Gustav we made trips to the Padre Island National Seashore (located on Padre Island just south of Corpus Christi) and were greeted with a beautiful beach and crystal clear, 88 degree, water.
GALVESTON FOUND
Well, following Hurricane Ike, the beach looked a little different. We drove on the beach for about 7 miles south from the park headquarters. We were amazed at the sight. Under an unusually high tide, the beach was filled with trash that had washed up from Galveston over 200 miles to the north. We were told that the beach was closed 15 miles south due to the extreme buildup of debris.
We couldn’t believe the number of Rubbermaid style storage tubs, unfortunately there were no lids. The beach was strewn with coast guard life preservers. Here is one of the over 20 water heaters that we saw.
There were barrels of all kinds. Many were marked as being owned by Texas City and the Galveston Parks Department.
At least 4 televisions and who knew that they would float.
Telephone poles were found everywhere.
We came across a sailboat that, other than being washed onshore, appeared to have weathered the storm pretty well.
The police had ringed the boat with crime scene tape to protect the vessel until the owner can pick it up.
We found children’s toys
How about a Mardi Gras doll.
A 4-wheeler that had already been stripped of its wheels.
Hot tub anyone?
Oil rigs use escape pods as rescue devises. If anyone was aboard this one, they may not have fared very well. The top shell is smashed and half of it is missing.
It doesn’t appear that Robert Brown will be receiving mail anytime soon. We found this about seven miles south of the beach entrance.
You could build several houses with the lumber that was washed ashore in the area we traveled. There were countless staircases and roof sections. Here are studs and rafters with the wiring still in place.
The beach was crawling with scavengers. I’m sure that most of the salvageable stuff had already been removed. When we left the beach we saw more people showing up with trailers for their booty.
We plan to go back next week and see how the removal is progressing.
Thanks for the pictures. The trash tour was most interesting.