News Hurricane Ike Update

Greetings Laserites. Ike has come and done its worst to the Galveston Bay area. Seabrook Sailing Club took a direct hit and was washed out. Fortunately, the members evacuated all of their boats before Ike came through. Here's a link to Chris Kuhlman's pictures of the area and the clubhouse and the damage Ike wreaked.
http://www.ckpro.com/IKE
Three board members' homes right behind the club were washed away, only the pilings remain. The cinder block walls downstairs and almost all upstairs washed away as designed, leaving the reinforced concrete structure intact, including the roof. Too bad we just had new windows installed. The piers are very badly damaged. The mausoleum, a wood and metal structure that housed one of the motor boats, race marks, and members' boards and gear is gone. The contents of the building and mausoleum are scattered debris, even most of what was moved upstairs. I can't tell from the pictures too clearly, but it looks like the drink coolers and refrigerators upstairs are probably gone. I haven't heard about the status of our three motor boats, but I was told they had been moved to safe ground. Right now, we're hoping all of our members are comfortable and glad everybody got away to safety.
At my house in the Heights, just north of downtown Houston, we had lots of wind and tons of rain. Trees are down everywhere and we got electricity back at 1:30 a.m. last night. Comcast came back around 1:00 p.m. We have some huge pecan limbs to cut up, as soon as we can get a chainsaw. Fortunately, the roof's fine and nothing broke any windows. Thank god for the gas stove and water heater. Much of Houston is still without electricity, and gasoline's hard to find.
Thank you ahead of time for all your support and best wishes. We have quite a rebuilding ahead and we hope all the other Gulf Coast sailing clubs fared better than us.
Peace from Texas.
 
Wow. That structure was built after Carla. I've seen the bathrooms downstairs washed out several times, but not the upper floor. It was before my time, but I think Alicia did a similar number on the clubhouse. SSC people have their work cut out for them. Though it survived, the shell structure is so old it may have to be torn down and replaced.

I just hope everyone is OK. Boat and buildings can be replaced.
 
What a bummer. Hope everyone is OK and that you can rebuild your club.

This is my first time online since Saturday morning. The remnants of Hurricane Ike hit a cold front over Columbus, Ohio and generated 75 mph winds. I'm moderating now from the public library and hope to have power and cable back soon, but it could take a week or more. 300,000 without power. Most of the insections in a city of a million people had to be treated like four way stops yesterday. Fortunately, the temperatures are pleasant. Once you concede that you've lost everything in your fridge and freezer, life's not too bad.

The worst thing is that the electric workers that the area had sent to Texas had to be recalled.

Our sailing club building is fine, had my Laser regatta this past weekend, and the shifts and gusts on Sunday morning were doosies. I couldn't finish the last race, as the boom hit my brow and I lost count of my capsizes. I've got quite a shiner! After the races we watched the white caps grow on the river and then the wind blew the tops off the waves in spray. When the spray reached the bend in the river, it turned into little waterspouts, 10 to 15 feet tall. Cool!

Spent some time cleaning up debris this afternoon. Hope to have power soon!
 
Add that two other homes were destroyed belonging to Seabrook Sailing Club members.

Film footage at www.khou.com / look for video then look for "search other videos'" look for "Seabrook..." on Sept. 14. You will see the five empty lots and one house standing belonging to another club member. Club house sits on the left from the individual home and waste-water treatment plant.

Septic systems overflowed. And city is blockaded. Natural gas leak was contained. Odor of gasoline was reported.


Photographer Chris was able to kayak from a canal. It's shocking. Nothing appears of the club building except frame and roof.

The entire property area is shredded.

The storm surge was confirmed and reported as 17 ft. in that area of upper Galveston Bay.

Does anyone have news on Houston YC, Lakewood YC, Texas Corinthian YC?
I here Shoreacres/HYC took several feet of flooding.

Only 4 sailboats were left before landfall and seen some distance away.

Neighboring communities were hit hard with similar devastation. Lakewood YC might be one of them.

Please share news as it surfaces.

JR Futcher
Jay, send me an email as you get news- [email protected]
 
Well, Bradley moved this to the Laser News Desk and this isn't exactly news, but I still don't have power and I'm soo sick of feeling like I'm camping, but at least I have a house.
 
My parents have been blacked out for almost exactly a week. That beats the previous mark of four days we set after Alicia. They MIGHT have power on Monday.
 
Merrily, Sorry we let Ike keep going so strongly once he ate us up. Hang in there.
We're having an emergency SSC board meeting tomorrow morning at our commodore's house in League City. We have had Club stuff found amid the debris inland, and the clubhouse structurally seems to be weak and will need to come down. Talks are going on to hold the Endless Summer TYS Regatta at Canyon Lake. Word around is that our motor boats and Opti trailer and gear are safe. I'll keep everyone posted as news arises.
Thanks so much to all who have given their kind words and support.
 
Thanks, Jay. Powerboats and Optis, good, debris inland :(.

Went to the potluck at the club last night. Everyone but me has power! It's still 4:30 at my house (the time the power went out). Maybe I should send up a flare.
 
Still 4:30. Day 6 with no power. I have purchased an LED headlamp so I can see while eating my dinner. My husband has rigged powering the cable modem with a car battery. Clever John!
 
Day 7 with no power! I'm going sailing, but I look like one tough brawler. I got a black eye from my Laser boom last Sunday morning when the Ike winds were building and we were having our annual Laserlips regatta. The aggravating thing is that I have a helmet for watersports and forgot to put it on. :(
 
John is amazing! Car battery and the modem...I love it.
We had our board meeting yesterday. First step is to clean up the grounds and make it safe. There's lots of glass all over the place, and the harbor needs to be swept clear of any submerged debris. Then, we'll set up some nice port-o-cans, install a freshwater shower (fancy like at the beach), and let members bring boats back and start sailing! We will rebuild the clubhouse with either totally new construction, or, if it's structurally sound, build on the existing reinforced concrete structure. (I'm looking for info on building in wind and solar power, and invite all other suggestions for how we might design the new clubhouse.)
We went down to the club on Saturday morning to view the devastation. I took some pix. (attached) Ironically, the trophy case on the 2nd floor was unscathed, not even a pane of glass broken. Also, while the walls mostly were stripped of panelled boards, teh area where the original SSC sign is hanging stood firm and the sign survived. The piers survived without much damage, as they were submerged during most of the storm and were not beaten by crashing waves like the Club was. We figured the water (storm surge) at the club was at least 12' and most likely around 15'-16' feet, so the second floor was getting pounded by not only the swells but the crashing waves, too.
More as news develops...
 

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Woo hoo! We have power! One hour and 6 minutes short of 7 full days. Thank you Hydro One of Ontario, Canada.
 
SSC's latest news:
Seabrook Sailing Club Newsletter - Under Construction

Your Board of Governors wanted to keep you informed on what is going on with your Club. This is an exciting time of rebuilding. They want you to be involved and knowlegable about the re-building. Since Hurricane IKE, your Commodore and Board of Governors has been working at an incredible pace, meeting on a frequent basis, and acomplishing quite a bit. Exciting changes are full speed ahead!

Here's some of what is happening;.

A Demoliton Committee was formed with Gene Scott, Hauk Wahl, and Dianne Gordon. The committee received a budget and approval to start demolition of the Clubhouse. The Committee already had three excellent bids and is in the process of getting a permit and approval from SSC's insurance company. The plan is to have the demolition done within weeks.

A second committee has been formed to make up Master Plan for SSC that would encompasses placement of all Club buildings and facilities with projected construction costs. Committee members are Gene Scott SSC Treasurer , Dianne Gordon SSC Secretary & Architect by vocation, Tom Ryder SSC Vice Commodore & Steve Tacconelly Past Commodore. The Committee already has a preliminary site map of the entire club that will be be submitted to the Board of Governors at the next meeting on Sat 25th of October. According to Gene Scott, after SSC Board approval a final plan will be shown to club members for their review and consideration.

Here are some great ideas so far to being considered in site plan changes;

Our club could have two driveways both on opposite sides. This would allow for better parking during Regattas.

How about a separate Race Committee Building that houses all three committee boats and race committee gear located on the Starboard Tack property. That could allow for a separate exit for Committee boats off of 5th street and would avoid the committee boats being driven in the main parking lot.

One Clubhouse plan being considered is to construct the Clubhouse with a graded dirt mound and concrete slab eight feet high above sea level with the Clubhouse's second story 13 feet higher making the second story 21 feet above sea level. Minor storms in the future would not cause as much of a problems for our club with the increased elevation.

Bathrooms will need to be upstairs and would also not be effected as much by storms.

Other ideas include a Clubhouse with unobstructed views. archways, large deck areas and better & closer parking.

The interior of the Clubhouse will be designed by a House Committee and probably have a different design then the old design. Board members have mentioned several interesting designs such as open concepts, and Kitchens facing the Bay.

Peter has been working diligently re-designing and costing out Mausoleum designs. His ideas are very innovative. A lot of discussion centered on Peter O'Connor's ideas for specialized Mausoleum lockers for Windsurfers, Kayaks and Sunfish/Lasers. Peter O'Connor and Gene Scott are looking into the permit required to rebuilt the Mausoleum by the City of Seabrook. Also storm construction techniques are now required. Ken James is also helping out with new construction details.

Member's comments are needed and very appreciated concerning any phase of the re-construction. If you have any ideas or designs that would work better, please share your ideas Please e-mail either Gene Scott [email protected] , Dianne Gordon [email protected] , Tom Ryer [email protected] , Steve Tacconelly [email protected]

SSC Piers and Harbors' Governor told us the harbor is OK to sail in. He mentioned however there is still debris floating in Galveston Bay so please be watchful for such when sailing.

Bring your Boats back! Ground Governor Peter O'connor has invited members to bring boats back and is re-installing chains with the ground committee members.

Karina just sent out a Party Evite for a party of November 1, 2008. Calling all SSC sailors not going to Canyon Lake Yacht Club to help run the Regatta, to make the party fabulous. Come go sailing or just relaxing. We will not be racing but fun sailing. Bring a blanket or folding chairs. Please pardon the construction site but SSC is getting better and better. You will see Storm debris - Don't worry it will be at will be removed with the demolition of the Clubhouse.

This is an exciting time to be at SSC - be part of it - watch your Club get better and better!

Sent by Dianne Gordon for Steven Tacconelly
 

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