TexasKayakFisherman.com est. 2000

[TKFStubb]

My good friend, Aaron Reed, with the Texas Department of Wildlife is not only a top drawer writer but a pretty good photographer as well. I saw him in a news broadcast on TV and contacted him to share some of his thoughts and feelings on Hurricane Ike. Aaron was dispatched from Austin with a group of Texas Game Wardens who came to Bolivar and surrounding areas for search and rescue. They are uniquely suited for this task not only because of their training, but because they have airboats, 4WD vehicles, and marsh buggys that can go where other vehicles can't. Aaron is too consumed with the recovery process to log on right now, so he wanted me to pass along some first hand photos that he and others took from the first morning after Ike passed through Glcrest and Anahuak up until yesterday afternoon. He is featured in photo #41 removing a disgruntled Cotton Mouth. Some more of my favorites are
#2 of a couple of real survivors
#88 of a van that was split right down the middle
#151 of traffic control Ike-style
#154 of a real dead end
and my favorite of all...the ultimate evacuation route, #9 in the first group

These pics not only show the awful fury and power of this storm, but some of the ironies in any disaster. He's putting together some stories of some of the folks he met and the sights he saw that he said he would share with us when things settle down for him.
I hope you like the pics as much as I do...
http://hurricaneikebolivar.shutterfly.com/

[FishingSETX]

tom,

Thats an awesome site!! great pics and something you dont see much, great writing. That guy should write a book!! Thanks for posting that.

[Ms addicted]

Tom, thanks so much for posting those. There is a real void of actual "like it is" news out there.

[TKFStubb]

Aaron has added more picks in the last few minutes AND he's updating his blog faithfully. Its great to have someone's thoughts that is directly involved in the search & rescue which has now turned into a recovery operation... stay tuned.

[FishingSETX]

Before Ike, before I went to Anahuac and the Bolivar Peninsula, I wrote that I actually like tropical storms. Not so much, now. The devastation I have witnessed and so many have lived in Southeast Texas is sobering.

There's nothing malicious about a hurricane: it just is. And if we did not choose to build and live and work and play at the edge of the sea, hurricanes would be benign or even beneficial events.

But, of course we do. My grandparents did. My parents did. So did I, for a time. And with good reason: in Texas, the scape where sea and sand and sky come together is truly magical.

The best piece of writing I have seen so far and probably one of the best the will come from this storm.

Truly moving.

[SPONGE-BOB]

IF YOU ARE MOVED BY WHAT YOU SEE
GO VOLUNTEER TO HELP CLEAN UP.

www.rebuildbolivar.com

beachout@rebuildbolivar.com

MANY FOLKS DOWN HERE NEED HELP.
JUST SHOWING UP CAN LIFT THE SPIRITS.

YOU FISH THERE, YOU PLAY THERE, GO HELP OUT IT IS APPRECIATED MORE THAN YOU KNOW. MANY, MANY PEOPLE IN THIS AREA WERE NOT INSURED AND HAVE NO WAY EXCEPT BY HAND TO CLEAR A HELLISH MESS FROM WHERE THIER HOMES ONCE WERE.
THANKS,