A Beachcombers Perspective on the Effects of Hurricane Ike

Our first trip to the beach following Hurricane Ike was much different than any other trip we have ever made. We are still in awe of the devastation that Ike brought to Texas. Fallen power lines and debris, broken trees and destroyed homes have become an everyday site for South East Texans who live in the affected areas, but you still have a sense of disbelief.

We were shocked when we were driving out of the city of High Island to the beach entrance. We could see the water before we got near it. The entire landscape had changed. The sand dunes were completely gone. Gone were the turn-ins where we normally would have parked. The fishing pier that we used to walk under while hunting the beach was gone except for the pilings. The water is completely to the roadway in some areas and the sand has been seriously eroded. The actual beach seems to be about half of what it was.

We knew that the entire area had been underwater when the storm surge came ashore and on the opposite side of the beach road, we were actually able to "beachcomb" there and find some really nice pieces of sea glass. There was just as much sand on the wrong side as there was on the beach side. The cars stranded in the field were an eerie site; but not as eerie as going further down the road and seeing that nearly every single beach house had been completely wiped out.

Once we negotiated the washed out areas of road and found a place where we could pull off the side of the road and get on the beach itself, we were able to do our beachcombing, but we found that things have changed dramatically on the beach.

Not only had the beach been severely eroded and displaced, there were huge tidal pools that were created and made it very hard to get around. The tide was incoming so we had to be very careful that we did not get stranded on one of the higher stretches of sand. You could not walk the beach very far without having to walk through the water to get to the next stretch, so we just kept pulling the car down the road so we did not get stranded.

We love to search for well worn and surf tumbled pieces of beach glass and there was an abundance of new glass that was obviously from homes and cars. We found pieces of headlights and taillights, household debris, dinnerware, furniture, electric cords, wood, windows from homes. We did manage to find some nice pieces of glass that were probably churned up from the storm. I think that the storm probably brought up some long buried things, this was the first time I had ever found an intact bottle that wasn't new and shiny. I happened across an old brown medicine bottle that was weathered and frosted and was an awesome find.

We will continue to take our beach trips and look for unburied treasures, but we fear that our beach will never be the same.