by Redneck Packrat » Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:45 am
We only got 9" of rain. BUT....we got the 12+ hours of over 100mph (and ~6 hrs of >130mph!) winds. It sat over us and BLEW AND BLEW. I know we had several of those mini-tornadoes come by as well, probably at a 100-130mph forward speed but blowing twice as fast inside. I could hear it in the winds blowing past the house, steady at a certain pitch, and then 5-10 seconds of insane acceleration, then back to "only" hurricane force. Port Aransas (11 miles up the road) looks like it's been bulldozed. Rockport looks almost as bad. Aransas Pass lost their water tower....well, they didn't lose it, it's laying right where Harvey put it! Lots of overhanging porches and cantilevered shade-providing extensions were flipped back or blown away. Across the street (upwind, at that) had their entire roof truss system come loose from the plate and lift enough to see daylight from the inside where crown molding should be. Not sure what kept it from flipping on off the house and coming over for a visit, but glad it decided to stay home. Funny thing is, he lost 3-4 tabs off the shingles and got NO WATER inside!
A lot of the fly-by-night salesman siding, you know, the stuff people used to go door-to-door to sell as a "property value enhancer"? A lot of that peeled off of houses, exposing the perfectly-preserved 105 type siding that got covered up by the slick, failed, used-car salesman types. It's getting pulled off and the 105 is making a comeback in this neighborhood as people realize that those houses that didn't get a new skin in the 80's and 90's are looking as good as ever. One neighbor made almost enough at the scrap yard selling his wadded up aluminum siding to pay for the materials to repair, caulk, and paint his 105!
I'm finally to the point of being able to address my own roof problems. Lost a whole lot of tabs and a few actual shingles, and have tarps stretched across the roof but that didn't keep this norther's rain out well enough. Been putting roofs on Mom's rent houses that in some cases lost even the sheathing. That comes first...the houses were/are occupied with good tenants. And they're understanding of my house being next as far as roof, before son and I go sheetrock their ceilings.
I'm going to take a moment to diss, dog, and condemn the Red Cross. Don't bother with them. Ever. Take any donation you might be thinking of giving them and go buy your own survival necessities. If you still have money left from your contemplated donation, buy more to pass to your neighbors. That way, people will get something out of your donation. I don't know of ANYONE in this area who NEEDED it that got that $400 "individual assistance" that they're touting as having made "available" to those impacted by Harvey. They set up huge tents in Corpus Christi, where they had maybe, MAYBE, 60 mph winds, and haven't yet been to Port A, which took nearly a 100% hit. And the setup for requesting that aid is laughable. Fill in a questionnaire on their website, (what do those who dont' have internet do??) and then wait for a text/email that they promise will be forthcoming within 24 hours. No confirmation sent to you that you submitted anything. Oh, and an admonishment to not submit multiple applications as that will slow them down. Then, up to A WEEK later, a denial text with no recourse except to re-apply. Then, they apologize for an "overwhelming response slowing them down and to please go reapply and you WILL get the aid"... but reapply by 10-10 and reapply only once or it'll (again) slow the system down. This time, the response is along the lines of 'your application is still pending and do not reapply', ON THE 9TH of October. They were having trouble verifying if we were in the damaged area, is their excuse. THE WHOLE DAMN ZIP CODE IS WITHIN 15 MILES OF LANDFALL!!! Bottom line is, they did NOTHING for Ingleside save pass out some short flat-nose shovels and garbage bags. Oh, and some crackers. Whooppee.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter. I didn't expect anything from outside the area, directly, as far as assistance, to the area, and so I wasn't disappointed. The generosity and caring gestures came from organizations completely unrelated and unaffiliated with governments. And yes, the state of Texas did come through with help for the municipalities and counties in the form of paying the bills for the outside cleanup help--brush trucks and etc.-- but the main direct help to individual people came from church groups and other true volunteers who gave of their time and pantries to come drive down here dragging trailers full of motley assortments of supplies and just hand 'em out as needed. For those folks, I'm truly grateful for their display of generosity and 'love thy neighbor' attitude.
Another big thumbs-up to the City of McAllen. They sent some of EVERY city department to help out and work with the city crews here....everything from police cars to fire trucks to water dept to street dept. It was like I went to bed in Ingleside and woke up in McAllen to see the markings on the city trucks leaving city hall in the mornings. Next time they experience a catastrophic event, our city fathers here BETTER be sending help. We owe it!
Enough novel. Going out in this 65 degree treat of an October morning and climb up on my roof with a tear-off shovel!