Port Aransas Relief

murphey said:
Got a drone handy?
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Great idea! A drone could carry the end of a string over that could the be used to attach to a line.

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DrMack said:
Great idea! A drone could carry the end of a string over that could the be used to attach to a line.

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Another tale of angels. (Excerpted from my Facebook update.)

Yesterday we awakened to water dripping on our bed. As you know, we have retreated to our airplane hangar in Ingleside -- the last place we have left to stay. Unfortunately, Harvey blew holes in the hangar roof, too, and it was storming outside. We were despondent, putting tarps over our little in-hangar shanty as best we could, knowing that couldn't work for long.

It stopped raining, and we headed off to work in Port A, not knowing what else to do. The hangar roof is 3 stories tall, and my ladder ends at 2 stories. And besides -- what was I going to fix it WITH?

Friends saw my post of despair, and took action. They obtained a big ladder, scavenged sheet metal from the wreckage of other hangars destroyed at the airport, somehow carried these big sheets of sharp metal up a 3-story ladder, and patched the big holes!

We couldn't believe it. Our place of last retreat, our last stand, our Dunkirk, was saved! See the picture, below.

If anyone ever tells you that angels don't exist, you just tell them the tale of Amelia's Landing. We've seen them -- LOTS of them. And we will never forget them.



POA Addendum: I didn't include this info in the Facebook update, but these angels were pilots, hangar neighbors -- and he is commodore of the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station and his wife. They used their Labor Day off -- probably their first day off in weeks -- to help us. He worked night and day to evacuate the entire base, and now he's saved us. I am speechless, and can never repay them.

Here's a pic of Brandy with the fixed holes.

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Jay,

It is in time like this when you find out who the truly good people are. There were many photos on TV and other media showing strangers helping strangers.
 
There are probably going to be some hellacious "thank you" parties over much of TX after the worst of this is over.
 
(Originally posted on our Amelias Landing Facebook page)

Recovery Update, Day 29:

It has become evident that Port Aransas is now the forgotten war zone. Half the people seem to be clueless about what has happened here, presuming that everything is all better "by now". The other half have completely forgotten that the hurricane ever happened.

Take a close look at the first photo, below. That is one of three debris fields at Amelia's Landing. It was taken TODAY. Every business and home in Port Aransas has a similar debris field in front of it, full of nails, metal shards, and broken glass. Sidewalks are impassable, streets are slightly better.

Please don't call and act miffed that we don't have a vacancy. We are full of homeless people, with tourism on indefinite hold. Until the government is able to clear these mountains of debris, the city is a dangerous, seriously un-fun place to be.

That said...progress continues at the hotel! Our front office is nearly back to normal, and we have even started putting all the airplanes back on the shelves! (Picture, below) Our living area is sheetrocked, the plumber has started work on the Amelia Earhart and Flying Tigers Rooms (we are getting rid of ALL the old fiberglass bath tubs, installing real tile showers!), and the roofers are still banging away. In a couple of weeks we hope to have a few rooms for y'all to enjoy!

We celebrated Jay's 59th birthday by dining at the refugee camp down the street, Cowboy Camp David. These angels were slated to be shut down today, but they have received a 10 day extension, thank goodness. They have fed, hydrated, and hugged us for 29 straight days, and I honestly do not know how Port A would have survived without them.

They continue to serve 1500 meals PER DAY here, to hungry Port Aransans. Think about that, in a town of just 3500 people. One month after the hurricane.

So, life goes on. Stay tuned...more as we know it.
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[ snide mode on ]
Of course PA, Houston, Miami, etc is on the back burner. The NFL is soooo much more important!
[ snide mode off ]
 
Man. We're pulling for Port A. It's hard looking at those photos and YouTube videos. My family and I are in Houston and love to fly down and visit periodically. Spent Easter there one year. Lots of memories of the kids playing on the beach.
 
Mary & Jay, hang in there, guys! I know it isn't pretty but you are moving on and upgrading in the process.
Insurance will pay for property damages and thank god that y'all are in one piece and here to tell the story about the demolished island.

If you need anything urgently from inland, please do let us know, we can always send an airplane or two down your way (if that helps any) if the mayor finally reopened the airport.

Best wishes
Lou & Jessica
 
BigBadLou said:
Mary & Jay, hang in there, guys! I know it isn't pretty but you are moving on and upgrading in the process.
Insurance will pay for property damages and thank god that y'all are in one piece and here to tell the story about the demolished island.

If you need anything urgently from inland, please do let us know, we can always send an airplane or two down your way (if that helps any) if the mayor finally reopened the airport.

Best wishes
Lou & Jessica
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Thanks, guys. The airport is open, although no fuel yet.

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Jay Honeck said:
Thanks, guys. The airport is open, although no fuel yet.

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Thought I'd post an update. From our hotel's Facebook page.

Recovery update, Day 49:

Today marks another major milestone: We should have the pool area open by 6 PM tonight! Woot! (New fence pictured, below.)

It seems strange that we couldn't open the pool without a fence, since a pool fence is meant to keep people OUT, but that's the law. It will be great to have that area back!

We are still shopping for a new hot tub, though, and our grill and most of the pool furniture was washed away in the surge. But we are getting there!

Tile was laid in the Amelia Earhart and Flying Tigers rooms yesterday! The new showers are installed, and will look great when the tiling is finished. We should have these two brand new rooms on line soon -- we are waiting on the new front doors to arrive.

Subfloor is going in the Red Baron Room, and all plumbing and electrical is complete. The Reno Air Race and Blackbird rooms won't be far behind. Once we get some of these new rooms back on line, we will really be cooking!

Incredibly, we are STILL waiting for windstorm certification of our new roof. The contractor is blaming the engineering firm. We are stuck in the middle. Without that certification, we have no legal roof, so keep your fingers crossed.

More incredibly, we are STILL waiting for SBA to simply endorse the insurance check we sent them to sign. Without that $125,000, we will soon be dead in the water. Again, keep your fingers crossed that the bureaucrats figure it out.

We finally received a formal bid to re-side both buildings. $115,000! Yes, you read that right. First we laughed, then we cried. If anyone reading this has connections to a reputable siding firm, please send them our way!

We finally finished moving out of the Stearman Room -- our home for the last month. Although it is a lovely room, it sure feels great to be back home. We still have lots to do (cleaning every tile with a scraper and Super Clean; new drapes; hanging artwork; waiting on kitchen cabinets and appliances), but our bedroom and living room are furnished and complete. It's all downhill from there!

We continue to hear good and bad news around town. For every business that reopens, we seem to hear about another that has thrown in the towel. Castaways, just down the street, is going to be bulldozed -- it's apparently too far gone -- and Drop Anchor won't be reopening. Castaways is moving across the street into the damaged but savable Phoenix building, while Phoenix itself is downsizing and moving out of town, out by Island Moorings subdivision on Hwy 361.

The hardware store next door is being demolished, as is the Episcopal church across the street. Port A will be quite different when all is said and done.

We DO have a few rooms available for tourists now, and the fishing and sea shelling have reportedly been fantastic! Call us at 361-749-5572 to check availability.

That's all for today. More as we know it!
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Sorry to hear about the hardware store... that was an interesting space. What will go in its place?
 
Poor sailboat. Please tell me that's not going out with the trash.
 
Mistake Not... said:
Poor sailboat. Please tell me that's not going out with the trash.
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There are a lot of little old sailboats that aren't in demand any longer. That one looks like it had been in storage for quite a while, and I suspect that's the end of the line for it.
 
Jay, have you looked into stucco. I have had very good luck with stucco wire, 2 coats of cement stucco and 1 coat of acrylic stucco over old siding. And the price came in under the cost of new siding. AND, it doesnt have to be painted!
 
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AggieMike88 said:
Sorry to hear about the hardware store... that was an interesting space. What will go in its place?
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Supposedly a new health spa, which will be nice. I could use a weekly massage.

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