Gulf Shores

Hwy 59 and Beach Blvd

GULF SHORES — Hurricane Katrina played havoc with Alabama's coastal playgrounds Monday as Gulf waters churned across beaches and flooded resort roads, but wind damage appeared minimal, at least compared to Ivan.

On Mobile Bay's eastern shore, however, stately homes of the well-to-do were awash in brown baywater storming over docks and porches, and into ground-floor rooms.

"I've been here 25 years, and this is the worst I've ever seen the water," said Fred Wright, watching muddy waves of Mobile Bay breaking over a seawall and hitting the back of his big, brick home.

Homes were flooded up and down the shaded, normally tranquil bayside, and a lot of limbs had fallen from the oak trees that line the bay and have long made the area attractive for the affluent.

"There are lots of homes through here worth a million dollars. At least they were yesterday," Wright said.

Surging waters

Across Baldwin County at the beach resorts, where high-rise condos and seven-figure homes mix with the T-shirt shop and beer joint crowd, Gulf waters surged across sandy beaches, smashed over seawalls and flooded beach roads.

But by late afternoon, the main beach road was mostly usable, with water standing in some spots but apparently no seriously washed-out sections. Rain ended and the sun broke through gray clouds for a while.

A metal roof was partially peeled off a condo, and shingles were missing from several homes. But the wind damage was nowhere near as devastating as that left by Hurricane Ivan in September, when entire condos crumbled.

Authorities said residents could begin returning to parts of Gulf Shores and neighboring Orange Beach today, but it may be days before coastal Gulf Shores is reopened because of downed power lines and flooding that was far worse than in Orange Beach, to the east and further from Katrina.

Both tourist cities resembled ghost towns as the storm roared ashore in Louisiana around 5 a.m. Street lights dangled sideways amid wind gusts around 60 mph, and palm fronds flew down roads covered with sand blown in by Katrina.

Conditions worsened by late morning and Katrina's harshest winds began arriving, with floodwaters spreading.

In Gulf Shores, white caps broke in the flooded-out parking lot of The Original Oyster House and brown bay waters blocked access to the beach. Police Chief Arthur Bourne said the water was as high as it was during Hurricane Ivan a year ago, meaning it could be days before homeowners get in to assess damage and begin cleaning up.
Above is from a Alabama Newspaper.

We have electricity on north side of Ft. Morgan Rd but not on the lagoon side. Gonna take the generator and try to get the pump going to pump well water to rinse salt out of new grass so maybe so much won't die. Ditto trees. We didn't get much rain w/ Katrina.