Hurricane Ike, September 13, 2008

Satellite View of Hurricane Ike
On the morning of Saturday, September 13th, 2008 Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston bringing a 15 foot storm surge which left most of the island under water. A week after the storm cleared we returned to find the store had taken in 7 feet of water.

Cracked Mud
There was a layer of mud covering all the streets and sidewalks. The store and its contents made a scene of chaos.

Chaos

Romance Section
The old romance section went over like dominoes.

From the Mezzanine
A look down from the mezzanine.

Sidewalk Closed
The clean-up crew from a company called 911 Restorations began the work of removing our ruined inventory, producing piles of debris in front of the store. FEMA trucks came by every few days or so to remove the trash, then a new pile would be started.

Clean-up Crew

Bagged Wet Books

After the clean-up, we completely remodeled the first floor of the store. New floor tile was installed and replacement shelving was generously donated to us by Bookland in Spring, TX and Half Price Books.

interior2