80 years old and starting over, that was the sad reality of the facts. There was no denying that around 5 feet of flood water had gotten into the house and there was no denying that the couple did not have flood insurance. The hard wood flooring that everyone had liked so much, after the water went down the flooring swelled and split the walls. There was so much pressure generated from the swelling wood floors, that not only did the walls split, but some of them were pushed off the concert slab.

Having lived in Bridge City for most of their lives, neither the husband nor the wife had ever heard of the type of flooding that was on the way. Hurricane Ike was like a dark cloud in the distance, almost like a bad dream, but this dream was real. For decades Southeast Texas had avoided the critical strike of a major Hurricane.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

In August of 1992, Hurricane Andrew was working its way towards Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. But the wind currents turned Andrew to the North, and Andrew Made landfall around Morgan City, Louisiana.

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the New Orleans area.

Continue Reading »

This is a basic wilderness survival quiz. Lets say that you and some friends are out on a hiking or camping trip. While on this trip, one of the members of the group spots these pretty red berries. The question comes up if they are edible.

So, are they edible?

Red Berries

These berries turn red in late fall or early winter and grow on an evergreen bush. The bush can grow to around 20 feet tall, the leaves are around an inch long and maybe 1/2 - 3/4 inch across.

Continue Reading »

Doing some fishing at Lake Sam Rayburn in East Texas.  The tiny torpedo in the video is one of my favorite top water lures of all time.  It seems to work best when the wind is not blowing very hard and the top of the water is smooth.  If there are any hungry bass in the area, this lure will find them.

Visit the Fishing Forums.

One man tents allow backpackers and campers to carry a shelter without weighing them down too much. Even though this tent does not offer a lot of protection from the elements, it does offer good protection from insects.

The tent in the video is a Wenzel Starlite, and is about 13 years old. Even though I have owned lots of tents over the years, this one has probably given the best service. Its light enough to take just about anywhere and fits perfectly across the bottom of a Medium Alice pack.  The fact, the Medium Alice along with this tent makes a pretty good combination.

Continue Reading »

These pictures were taken in Bridge City, Texas after Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas. Using Google Earth, and measuring from where these pictures were taken, its estimated that 20 miles inland, there was about a 14 - 15 foot storm surge. This is not a scientific measurement, its just an estimate.

How the storm surge was estimated - my parents house is is about 4 feet above sea level and they got over 9 feet of water in their house. This picture was taken 3 days after Hurricane Ike made landfall and the flood waters had receded about 7 - 8 feet.

Bridge City Texas Hurricane Ike

Continue Reading »