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Hurricane Alicia remembered 25 years later
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| An errant sailboat lies beside NASA Road 1 near the West Mansion after high waves during Hurricane Alicia swept in onto the middle of the heavily traveled roadway. It had to be moved so Clear Lake area residents could return to their homes. |
By MARY ALYS CHERRY
This Monday, Aug. 18, marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most devastating hurricanes to ever hit the Bay Area.
Hurricane Alicia made a direct hit on Galveston at 1 a.m. that Thursday, slamming the island with 135 mph winds and leaving residents in darkness before cutting a 300-mile path of destruction through the Bay Area, up the Gulf Freeway to downtown Houston and on to Dallas.
Damage was estimated at nearly $1 billion and days later many parts of the Bay Area were still without power.
Food spoiled, swimming pools turned green and many residents headed to the now defunct Nassau Bay Resort Inn, which had a wonderful thing their homes were missing those hot, muggy August days -- air conditioning.
It was five to seven days before power was restored around the area, with El Lago, Taylor Lake Village and Seabrook taking the heaviest blows from massive amounts of trees down.
The Category 3 storm left 10 dead statewide including one man who drowned in Seabrook and four Houston area residents who were killed by falling trees.
It nearly wiped out what is now the Kemah Boardwalk. Only the shell of the first floor of Jimmie Walker's Restaurant, now Landry's, remained and the popular Kemah Steakhouse washed out to sea, never to be found again.
"We're hurting. We're in bad shape, until we get the community back together," then Kemah Mayor James A. Foster said the day after the storm, which cost many restaurant workers their jobs.
Yachts at Houston Yacht Club were tossed about like matchsticks and boats were found in many peculiar places. One landed in the swimming pool at Bal Harbour, another in the Lakewood Yacht Club pool.
Residents returning after the storm found one errant sailboat lying in NASA Road 1 near the West Mansion, blocking traffic. One boat broke its moorings in Seabrook and ended up in Nassau Bay.
Texas Gov. Mark White called the destruction "incredible" as he toured the area. "I've never seen anything like it. It was the worst I've seen, an incredible amount of damage."
In fact, damage was so severe that the Clear Creek School District had to move back the opening of school one week.
The cleanup included:
Minor damage such as broken windows at Johnson Space Center;
A brick wall that fell off an apartment building on Bay Area Boulevard;
Damage to The Waffle House, Days Inn and a night club when a tornado touched down in Webster;
What was left of Nassau Bay's Bayfront Towers, which was nearly destroyed by the high winds that also took the roof off the nearby fire station;
Many League City homes that lost their roofs;
The Flying Dutchman and Joe Lee's restaurants in Kemah that took major blows from the storm.
Glass also rained down on Houston streets as the 100 mph winds blew out hundreds of windows in city skyscrapers and nearly all of the buildings in Galveston suffered damage.
Hurricane Alicia made a direct hit on Galveston at 1 a.m. that Thursday, slamming the island with 135 mph winds and leaving residents in darkness before cutting a 300-mile path of destruction through the Bay Area, up the Gulf Freeway to downtown Houston and on to Dallas.
Damage was estimated at nearly $1 billion and days later many parts of the Bay Area were still without power.
Food spoiled, swimming pools turned green and many residents headed to the now defunct Nassau Bay Resort Inn, which had a wonderful thing their homes were missing those hot, muggy August days -- air conditioning.
It was five to seven days before power was restored around the area, with El Lago, Taylor Lake Village and Seabrook taking the heaviest blows from massive amounts of trees down.
The Category 3 storm left 10 dead statewide including one man who drowned in Seabrook and four Houston area residents who were killed by falling trees.
It nearly wiped out what is now the Kemah Boardwalk. Only the shell of the first floor of Jimmie Walker's Restaurant, now Landry's, remained and the popular Kemah Steakhouse washed out to sea, never to be found again.
"We're hurting. We're in bad shape, until we get the community back together," then Kemah Mayor James A. Foster said the day after the storm, which cost many restaurant workers their jobs.
Yachts at Houston Yacht Club were tossed about like matchsticks and boats were found in many peculiar places. One landed in the swimming pool at Bal Harbour, another in the Lakewood Yacht Club pool.
Residents returning after the storm found one errant sailboat lying in NASA Road 1 near the West Mansion, blocking traffic. One boat broke its moorings in Seabrook and ended up in Nassau Bay.
Texas Gov. Mark White called the destruction "incredible" as he toured the area. "I've never seen anything like it. It was the worst I've seen, an incredible amount of damage."
In fact, damage was so severe that the Clear Creek School District had to move back the opening of school one week.
The cleanup included:
Minor damage such as broken windows at Johnson Space Center;
A brick wall that fell off an apartment building on Bay Area Boulevard;
Damage to The Waffle House, Days Inn and a night club when a tornado touched down in Webster;
What was left of Nassau Bay's Bayfront Towers, which was nearly destroyed by the high winds that also took the roof off the nearby fire station;
Many League City homes that lost their roofs;
The Flying Dutchman and Joe Lee's restaurants in Kemah that took major blows from the storm.
Glass also rained down on Houston streets as the 100 mph winds blew out hundreds of windows in city skyscrapers and nearly all of the buildings in Galveston suffered damage.
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