Port Aransas facing long recovery from Harvey - camping gas grill

PORT ARANSAS —
Usually free
The vibrant Gulf coast city of Port Aransas is known for its trendy atmosphere and golf carts cruising along the streets and beaches, within 24 hours
It's about an hour.
The roofs and sides of many buildings where barrier island restaurants and novelty shops are located collapsed under the power of Harvey 130
One mile an hour of wind, leaving gas stations scattered around them, and moving houses thrown away like abandoned toys.
A passage to the island was impassable by water and brought together on Saturday
Deep, prompting search and rescue personnel to roam the ship from one home to the other to ensure that no one is trapped in the residence.
The other was blocked by the police.
The Port of Aransas is in a state of forced evacuation, but on Sunday some journalists were allowed to investigate the disaster.
Chaos on the island.
A liquor store left a pile of broken signs and crumpled roofs, with bottles scattered in the parking lot.
The wires lean on the sand
Covered roads.
The mobile family park that houses retirees and locals waiting at the table and looking after the rental property was destroyed.
Officials have not yet started counting losses, but said they could easily reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
No business was open on Sunday morning, although a CVS on the outer edge of town was able to open later in the day.
There is no water, electricity or community service in the entire community.
"The emotional damage our friends and family have suffered is indescribable," said Police Chief Scott balles . ".
City Manager David Pearson wrote on social media, "Most buildings have been compromised to some extent.
Some vandalism reports circulating on Twitter say beach favorites like Virginia Bay, Shorty pier and Trout Street.
City officials say it may not be until Tuesday before they will allow people who hold the Aransas Port driver's license and/or those listed on the Nueces County tax form who own the homestead property.
Police had been assisted by state police, the National Guard, parks and wildlife as of Sunday.
They check people there and provide medical first aid as needed.
"If a building collapses, this is obviously a concern for rescue workers and police Sgt . "
Said Mike Hansen.
"If the House is upright, we are just knocking at the door.
"It is reported that Port Aransas did not die, although it was surrounded by some of Harvey's most powerful forces and when it finally landed it had become a monster level 4 hurricane.
But with the clear skies on Sunday, people are worried about the robbery, the growing anxiety of those who don't listen to the evacuation warning, and now they are stuck on the island with no electricity, plumbing, telephone service andin some cases —food and water.
Melanie zullasski is one of about 100 people, and despite being called evacute, he stayed on the island and just wanted a cup of coffee on Sunday morning.
When officials at the civic center used as the Center for Emergency Operations told her that there was not enough time to walk around, she cried in frustration and anger.
"Let me have a rest.
I live here and can't get coffee. "She said.
"We lost everything.
We have no means to leave.
. . . . . . Americans who live here and support the island don't make much money.
So a lot of us stayed and went to the resort and the place to make money.
By that time, it was too late to leave.
Police say they are doing everything they can and a sympathetic first responder finally handed her a cup of coffee.
Some people were allowed to come in and charge and call their phones, but now aid has to stop.
"Our emergency crews don't even have everything they need," Hansen said . ".
"So how can we provide ourselves with a town that we can't even provide without a shelter.
"Now, we are still forced to evacuate," Hannong said . ".
"We have a lot to do.
. . . . . . Our wires are hung up and there are dangers everywhere.
"For many reasons, we have carried out mandatory evacuation," he added . ".
"The main reason is security.
You just have to look outside to see the impact.
Port Aransas is an island.
We don't have a hospital.
We do not have much of the resources that the mainland has.
Van and regional transport authority buses have been provided, but officials are not planning to "help people" to force them to leave, Hannon said.
Zurawski was told on Sunday to "leave the island" but said she had nowhere to go. Her first-
A pile of damp stuff was left on the apartment floor.
The power of the wind turned the refrigerator over and the tables, chairs, lampshades and clothes turned into a mess of rubbish.
During the storm, she and several others hid in an unoccupied apartment upstairs, planning to ride out despite the lack of electricity and water.
Half of the exterior walls of the building were blown out, and during the storm they feared that the next wall would be the inner wall.
When the water in the stairwell began to rise rapidly, they were sure they were dead.
She picked up a temporary rope from the torn sheet.
This is to keep yourself United in the event of a roof collapse to better find them.
"It was a roller coaster," Zurawski said . "
"That's what we do for four hours.
Roller coaster, bounce, bounce.
Terry Elkes walked barefoot to the emergency center because most of his clothes were lost and said he felt he had no choice but to stay.
Almost all the trailers were overturned by the storm, including his trailer.
"I only have my car, my RV and my girlfriend.
"We helped everyone in the Park get off the bus and then we got stuck," he said . ".
"The City tells us they have buses coming and you have 30 minutes.
Elkes and his friends missed the bus.
Remodeling contractor Robert Ramsey thinks his house on stilts will be good.
Yes, but Harvey tested it.
"I look out the window and see what's going on outside and I'm like divine.
. . . . . . There's about 8 feet water under my house, "he said.
"Then it goes up and starts hitting the floor, the bottom of our house, and you can feel it hitting the waves.
"Ramsey is ready to go to his attic if necessary.
"I just got the battery.
"I operated sowal and if the water went up higher, I was going to dig a hole in the attic," he said . ".
Ramsey's commercial truck was parked on one side, his tools were scattered all over the ground, covered with salt water, and he knew he would have a lot of work to do in the coming months.
"I won't go," he said.
"I'm going to fix this place.
"Right now, Ramsey and a couple of other people are camping out and cooking the meat that's frozen in their fridge on a barbecue.
They made pork chops on Saturday.
It will be venison on Sunday.
Some lucky residents took refuge in the hotel, which survived the storm and was mostly intact.
Several people sat in front of the hotel and heated the frozen pizza with a gas grill.
"I think if someone gets angry, they get angry with the situation," Casey Wilson said . ".
Her biggest concern was that she could not tell the Dallas family that she was fine without a cell phone service.
"It can be said that we received a warning," Wilson said . ".
"Some of us have no place to go.
Some of us, like me, have chosen to stay, and now is only a consequence.
"Port Aransas is mainly a resort community.
Beach villas and apartments are mainly owned by people living in San Antonio and Austin.
"If we don't have a lot of people who don't have to worry about things like health care, we can easily drive around and make sure people don't go through people's homes . "Hannon said.
"No one should be here, so we can say you shouldn't be here, do you need help? If they are doing something like opening someone's house, we can evaluate it
For example, Zurawski and others have learned that it is unfair to have bottles scattered outside the dismantled Spanky wine.
"The police came up and said, 'Where did you get the wine? '" she said '. ".
"I said, 'it's floating.
They said, 'Can I get your ID card? 'I said,' these things have gone somewhere.
Let's get drunk at least.
But police officer Kelly Hansen took another picture.
"It's not theirs," he said . "