[1]

Several days ago we decided to head over to South Padre Island where Tinka could try out her dysfunctional umbrella.

But that is not the real story.  On the way to the island, we were surprised to find that Hwy 107 was closed due to flooding.

About a half mile of the road was missing.

It turns out that this is leftover flooding from Hurricane Alex back in June.   To alleviate flooding, levies were constructed and a planned “floodway” was constructed.  For the first time in over twenty years, the use of the floodway was activated to protect the upstream dams on the Rio Grande.

[2]

The flooded area shown below is normally a sod farm.

Earlier I showed you a picture of Hwy 107 flooded.  The picture below was taken from the same spot last week.  The road is now opened, mud plowed away and dry.

The crops didn’t fare very well over the two months of inundation.

The agriculture damage is unbelievable, but the residential areas have been spared.