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Hurricane Ike Damage

Updated 03/09/09

The Great Blue Heron evacuated and returned. The Brown Pelican rode out the storm

Salt water scorched the east end freshwater swale

The east beach was eroded through the dunes into the picnic pavilions. The area was strewn with seaweed and debris, and facilities buildings were undermined and had collapsed. The entire length of dunes was washed away.

The parking areas east and west and the paved oval in front of the headquarters building were covered with sand and littered with seaweed and debris. Facilities buildings were lifted from foundations,

 shattered and gutted. The HQ building was battered and gutted and surrounded with  seaweed and debris.

The RV camping areas were flooded with sand, seaweed and debris, the facilities buildings were gutted, and the utilities connections were obliterated.

The west beach was not so badly eroded, but the dunes are gone. The beach parking areas were undermined, the pavement was fragmented, and the facilities are gone. The dunes walkovers were almost deposited on FM3005.

Prairie expanses on both sides of the entry road were littered with seaweed and debris, but the park fee booth still stands.

North of FM3005 is mostly prairie grasslands and peninsulas between bayous, coves and bay. These are covered with debris, lighter items strewn among the grasses and heavier and larger matter lodged in the brush and trees.

The fish cleaning housing at Lake Como was swept away, and some fencing was lost, but the boat launch had only minor litter with part of somebody's dock mired in the lake. There was surprisingly little damage and debris here.

The RV camping area was clear, however the picnic tables were washed away from the pavilion, and the utilities were destroyed. The camping shelters were gutted, and the restroom facilities building was devastated.

Oak Bayou boat launch boardwalk disappeared, but the area and the far shore had very little litter, and the prairie grass is a gorgeous green. Across the road at the amphitheater pond, the picnic pavilions are gone. The marsh labyrinth was virtually untouched, but Ike finished what Carla began on the observation tower. We intend to rebuild.

Marshes around Butterowe Bayou had scant litter, Clapper Rail Trail footbridges were intact, but 4 of the interpretive signs disappeared.

Minor damage happened to the bird info kiosk, and the Clapper Rail entry sign was dismembered, but the observation tower suffered minimal damage. The view from the top was little disturbed, and there was little debris in the green grasses. It was hard to tell if the shrubs were browned form the salt water or the controlled burn.

Around the large freshwater ponds the prairie grasses are green while the marsh and swale plants are brown perhaps from saltwater or a normal winter color. We'll know better in the spring when we also hope that the live oak motts recover too.

The Nature Center was not damaged structurally. Even the Air Conditioning survived, but the insides. displays etal, were in shambles. It was not clear what could be salvaged.. 

Park Rangers will never live in these houses again