Hurricane Dolly

On Tuesday, July 23, 2008, the forcast was for Hurricane Dolly to make landfall about at Brownsville, TX. It hit Brownsville as well as Port Isabelle where we were just this past Saturday. On Tues. eve. it was stated that no one at RGBI needed to report to work on Wed. This was also Don's day off, so we just had on the weather reports and carried plants, etc. into the garage. It rained some most of the day, really picking up mid-afternoon.We lost electrical power at 7:00 p.m. At 8:00 p.m. it was really windy and pouring rain. We went out and surveyed the campus. At that time there were already about 4 inches of rain. This morning about 5:00 our street was completely covered. I walked out to our car in the driveway and the water was ankle deep even there.
Having not listened to the reports, we are not sure about the amount of rain. Some say 6 inches, others have reported 13 inches. Don thinks the best guess is 8 - 10 inches. It has also rained off and on today. I read that there were wind gusts up to 70 mph here last night. It sounded so much like the blizzards I remember as a child growing up in northwest Iowa. The night was long - just wind and rain every time we woke up.
It was a sad sight to see so many trees uprooted this morning. As soon as it was light the campus was abuzz with everyone from President Windle, to students, administration, office workers, wives and kids helping to clean up. The radio building lost lots of shingles and had a big problem with water leaking in. At 2:00 a.m. the fire department called Don to say the fire alarm was on in the radio building. Jerry Jeske was already opening the gate. The alarm company called again just as we were getting back to sleep, to tell us that there was a water leak causing the problem. One of the following pictures is of the radio building, but it was difficult to get a good shot from the ground.
What we are so thankful for is that there were no injuries or major damage. Thank you to all who have called and prayed.