Under Threat

We are under threat to be assailed by yet another wet storm system.  This time it is a tropical storm named Bill that is making its way across the Gulf of Mexico.  At this moment (Tuesday morning) it appears that the storm track will be to the east of us.  Generally when that happens we get less rain than we would if we were on the opposite side of the storm.  While our reservoirs and aquifers could use more rain to replenish their depleted stores due to the multi-year drought, we don’t need some of the issues a tropical storm can bring.  Not to mention the issues I am having with my roof that became evident with the last round of heavy rains.  It only leaks during a heavy downpour, not a light one.  The ones predicted are to be very heavy as it is with most tropical storms.  I got up on the roof yesterday and put some roofing patch in every place that might possibly be the culprit.  You know that gooey black stuff that gets all over everything and you can't get off without gasoline lol.

My son can by this past week to take a look at the roof and give his professional opinion on whether my insurance would find enough hail damage to get it replaced.  He says it's in better shape than he expected and no hail damage was apparent.  He is an insurance adjuster and has seen more than his share of hail damaged roofs.  No new roof is coming anytime soon and I can't afford a repair job right now.  Hence the try at preventing any more leaks at this time prior to this big storm coming.   

I remember two very significant events from a tropical storm that made it's way through our area and we were on the wrong side of the storm.  The latest was in 1998 or so.  We got over 18 inches of rain in less than 24 hours.  I had never seen it rain as hard for so long.  Personally we were very lucky.  Only my garage was flooded with several inches of water and of course with that kind of rain, and wind, we sprung leaks in our roof but nothing major.  One neighbor down the street had water run through his house destroying his hardwood floors and furniture.  Not real bad compared to what was happening on the Cibolo Creek near us.  Several folks lost their lives and homes, including the man that owned the property next to us.  I think they called this a ‘500 or 1000 year’ flood event.

Back in the late 70’s or early 80’s there was another tropical storm that made its way through here.  It dumped as much as 23-26 inches in a similar time frame.  One of the hardest hit areas was the Medina River area in Bandera and Medina, Texas.  My parents had a vacation house on the Medina River there.  We also had friends that lived farther up the river.  They lost a 13 year old grandson that helped get his grandmother to safety as he pushed her out a window with the water filling the house.  She survived and was plucked from a tree badly shaken and injured.  Some due to the barb wire that she encountered in the water from fences that were washed away.  Almost unbelievable that this frail lady survived and the stronger grandson did not.

My parent’s place was about 175 yards from the river, uphill.  Maybe a 50 higher elevation than the river surface.  That river came to within 3 ft. of the house.  I can’t even begin to describe the devastation to the landscape.  It completely changed everything.  The giant cypress trees that grew on the edge of the river were either gone or broken in two.  None were spared.  The ground was scoured of any soil.  Just a solid rock surface remained in places.  The amount of brush and trees that were left after the water receded was daunting.  Someone would have to eventually clear that if you wanted to have a place that was enjoyable.  It was more than my folks wanted to take on.  They said it would never be the same, the place they had loved with the beauty it had.  They were wrong, though it did take a number of years for the beauty to be restored.  They sold it and have regretted that move as did I.

It hasn’t started raining here yet as I compose this and remember, but the effects are already hitting our coast.  Hopefully, even though they are predicting ‘heavy rain’ over two days, this won’t be as bad for everyone here as they can be, especially the loss of life that inevitably occurs with events like this.  With our rivers already full and some still in flood stage, and the ground still pretty wet from our previous weeks of rain, this could be really bad.  I am praying for those in the path.

Update: As of Wednesday morning we have missed most of this storm.  We have had a few small showers and quite a bit of sunshine.  They are predicting the 'heavy rain' to start this afternoon, even though the tropical storm has move far inland.  So far so good.

Happy Trails