Galveston, Texas

Tree Art

 

On September 13, 2008, Galveston Texas was hit by the worst hurricane disaster since the famous 1900 storm (Note 1). The hurricane force winds certainly did their part in the devastation, but the storm surge may have caused more long term destruction than the wind itself. Galveston was under several feet of salt water for several days. Because of that, more than 40,000 oak trees, most of them over 100 years old died. The canopy of beautiful oaks that lined the major thoroughfare through town, Broadway Street, is mostly void of oaks, only palm trees survived.

Galveston has still not recovered from Hurricane Ike, but the resilience of man is evident by the fact that many residents have made tree art out of the stumps of the fallen oaks. They have made lemonade out of lemons.

Here are a few pictures I took on June 6, 2010 of the tree art we could find. Most all of them are in the historical district of Galveston.

 

Click on any picture to enlarge

Memorial to the Oak Trees lost in Hurricane Ike	Plaque on the Memorial

 

Great Blue Herons	Angels	Dog Click here for another view	Dolphin
Dolphin	Giesha Click here for another view	Mermaid	Another Mermaid
Mermaid close up	Pelican	Pelican on Piling	Tree of Seabirds
Tree of Seabirds	Tree of Seabirds	Squirrel	Tin Man Click here for another view
Yellow Lab Click here for another view	Dalmatian at Fire Station	Hydrant at Fire Station	What the Dalmatian was looking at
Owl	Another picture of the Herons	Totem pole	A pod of Dolphins

 

After our treasure hunt for tree art, Pam and I ate at the Fisherman's Wharf on Pier 22 with the Tall Ship Elissa outside our window.

Elissa was a merchant ship, built in 1877, and is still sea worthy.

 

Note 1: The Great 1900 Galveston storm completely leveled Galveston and killed an estimated 12,000 people. It is still considered the worst natural disaster ever to hit the U.S. mainland. The Galveston seawall was built shortly thereafter to prevent it from ever happening again.