Thoughts and Ramblings: Hurricane Season Edition!

It is nice that a third family member has reached out to me concerning research I did on a certain subject. It is especially satisfying because all three individuals agree that my research was spot on. I shared with the family what I found in all the sources. It is a plus when a relative sheds light on a few persons in their family whose stories you ignored. The Rowley Trio was unknown to me until a family member filled in the dots. I’ll leave a link to this story!

This week marks the beginning of hurricane season, and we have a few greatest hits on the list that weren’t retired. We begin with Chantal. Many here remember that Chantal was the Category 1 hurricane that wiped out the beach road between Sabine Pass and High Island in 1989. We all loved that road. No disrespect to the town of Winnie, but the Texas Department of Transportation and its determination to dig up every mile of Interstate 10 from El Paso to Orange are the devil. I would rather spend 20 minutes driving from Sabine Pass to High Island than driving for an hour on Highway 73 to Winnie, then down Highway 124 past Stowell to High Island. Shout-out to the Whataburger in Winnie. It’s my go-to breakfast stop if I have to drive to hell (Houston).

Humberto is next. Many don’t remember this hurricane because it happened in 2007. We all remember Hurricane Rita in 2005, but probably no one outside this area does because they focus on Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans a month earlier. I’m not bitter; I just don’t care about what happens in NOLA. Ever! In 2005, we had the three sisters, Katrina in August, Rita in September, and Wilma in October, which hit Florida. After Wilma, no hurricanes hit the US in 2006 or 2007 until Humberto. A friend of mine, a chemical engineer by trade, used to argue constantly with me about how Tropical Storm Humberto upgraded to a hurricane over land. My friend has since passed away, and I cherish my memories of his friendship, but engineers! I showed him radar evidence and data indicating that the storm meandered off the coast and then sped up due to a cool front moving through. This is why the storm intensified and reached hurricane strength before making landfall on High Island.

I also have a couple of other stories about this storm. One concerns someone who wasn’t my friend. He was working on a house in Crystal Beach and was awakened at two in the morning by terror: winds of 80 miles an hour (but no surge). I just wish I had a video of this. I would have enjoyed this scene more than when I was in first grade and we were herded in the hallway of St. James School, with the seventh graders hunkering down because of a tornado warning. In the end, there was no tornado—just straight-line winds and dark clouds—but the terror in the seventh graders’ eyes was priceless. (As a first grader, I didn’t care about the seventh graders at all. Yes, I was not a good child. As you can figure out, I’m the same as an old person.)

The other story is as follows: On the night of September 12, 2007, I went to sleep and woke up to a hurricane at three in the morning. I checked the website of KFDM on my phone and found that the radar was in full hurricane mode. I turned on the television to see the backside of Larry Beaulieu front and center as he tried to find out why the camera was not working. At that point, Hurricane Humberto took out the radar, which meant that the station didn’t know where the eye of the hurricane was. Beaumont took more of a hit than Port Neches and Nederland. The eye passed over Port Neches when those at KFDM thought it was south of Winnie. My cat nailed it because he came from the neighbor’s house wondering what the hell was going on. We brought him in as the backside of the eye began. I remember he was very vocal on WTF was going on with the weather. This was the same cat that disappeared before we evacuated for Hurricane Rita. He stayed during that storm. When I returned after Rita, I found a female cat and kittens hanging out at the house. Since I was working out of Atascocita and not living at my house, I never saw the other cat or kittens again. I’m not saying the cat, affectionately known as Sh*thead, the cat was trailer park, no doubt!

Next up is Tropical Storm Imelda from 2019, which even TikTok users should remember. This storm damaged what Hurricane Harvey missed in 2017. However, Harvey was not a hurricane when it showed its worthless head in Southeast Texas. Harvey dropped 65 inches of rain in Nederland in five days. Imelda dropped 43 inches of rain and flooded areas that had survived Harvey. It basically finished what Harvey started.

And then there was Hurricane Jerry (1989). I remember this because I may have audio recordings of myself talking about it as it happened ( a project similar to our pirate radio days!). Jerry wasn’t much, but he did show up, which is more than most cared to do at the time.

I want to add this: All you beachgoers who are determined to bring back the beach road between Sabine Pass and High Island—I support your plea. However, we are dealing with the Texas Department of Transportation, as well as second-tier Texas bureaucrats. It will not happen, unfortunately. Both are *&^%$&, whom I despise! Good luck anyway!

Well, it looks like I’m done here for the week. Remember, it’s hurricane season, and you should grab a beer, then run like hell!

Until next time, cheers!

Rowley Trio: