[melissa]

Thanks for the shots Jon. I'm sorry to hear about your reef tank and all the precious treasures in a precarious state. Let's hope for the best.

Your photos kind of remind me of the damage after Andrew hit the South Miami area in '92. I went down two weeks after the storm and was amazed at the damage - the entire place looked like one continuous landfill - no trees standing at all, dead animal smells everywhere, and not a bill board to be seen. What a mess. I hope those folks can get back on their feet again soon.

Damage on Galveston Island indeed varied. Check out how the town of Gilchrist was completely destroyed. Living on a barrier island ain't the safest thing to be sure. Here in Japan people purposely live away from the coastlines as much as possible due to the typhoons (the logical approach). As I write this a small tropical storm is hitting Kyushu...

Those gas lines remind me of the ones back in '73 during the oil embargo. I'll never forget my dad yelling about highway robbery once we got to the pump, "WHAT! $2 A GALLON! HIGHWAY ROBBERY!"

Tom