CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It seems like just yesterday when 3NEWS reported on the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey.
And it seems like just yesterday we were saying goodbye to former Chief Meteorologist Bill Vessey.
Thursday, Mr. Bill was back home at Channel 3 meeting with Chief Meteorologist Alan Holt.
The topic, appropriately enough: Hurricane Harvey.
"Looking back I can't believe how underestimated the storm was by all of the guidance, all of the modeling, just way under," Holt said.
Harvey was the first hurricane to hit the Texas coast since 2008 when Hurricane Ike came through the Houston area and the first major (category 3 or better) hurricane to hit Texas since Bret in 1999.
The storm was costly.
"I think people look back, especially in the City of Corpus Christi that it was bad. But the poor people in Port Aransas and Rockport. I mean what we got was bad," Vessey said.
Aransas Pass removed around 459,000 cubic yards of Harvey damage with the total cost being nearly $8.3 million. According to FEMA, the City of Corpus Christi removed more than 450,000 cubic yards of vegetation, construction, and demolition debris following Hurricane Harvey. The cost of removal was almost $12 million.
Vessey added that while the storm impacted many residents throughout the Coastal Bend, preparedness made all the difference when it came to preserving life.
"When you look back at everything you had to do to get ready, man it takes a couple of days," Vessey said.
Harvey destroyed numerous homes and properties when it hit Coastal Bend shores some five years ago. However, Holt said that with all the devastation that took place, the Coastal Bend had many reasons to be optimistic.
"Another thing that came out of it, a positive if there is one, is that there were no direct fatalities as the storm came in," Holt said.
Having been there for South Texas for numerous hurricanes and countless severe weather events, Vessey said that to this day, he still recalls the magnitude that Harvey brought to the Coastal Bend.
"The one takeaway from that storm, when anybody asks me 'what do you remember about that storm?' And it is, that there's a lot of people around today who may have not been, or may not be now, if it wasn't for not only us, but the weather service, everybody involved. We saved lives that night," Vessey said.
He added that when it came time for people to either evacuate or fortify their homes, he gave crucial advice for those who chose the latter.
"That night before it hit Rockport I remember saying 'if you are in Rockport and you decided to stay and if things get bad get in your bathtub and put a mattress over you,'" Vessey said. After the storm I met a lady who was in a mobile home in Rockport, she hoped in the tub and put a mattress on top of her. She said it saved her life."
Holt remembers feeling the immediate impacts of Harvey when he was finally allowed to leave the station to go home. He said that the damage was more than what he originally anticipated.
"There was no lights, no cars, no power anywhere," Holt said. "I got to my apartment, and it was a three story apartment right on the Oso Bay and the bottom floor, the top floor, the windows were gone. Mine were there and I was thinking 'there's no way the bayside windows are gonna be there.'"
Being aware of the dangers weather can bring to coastal shores, Holt understands that he was one of the fortunate, and could only wonder what life was like for those who were caught in the storms path.
"I remember lighting a candle, taking a shower, blowing it out, getting into bed and I could still her pings of glass breaking, metal rolling," Holt said. "I'll never forget thinking how much worst it probably was for not only Rockport, but Refugio and all those inland communities."
Despite everything that took place, both seasoned meteorologists agreed that helping the community was, and still is their upmost importance.
"I got so many hugs," Vessey said. "People crying, thank you, thank you, thank you, I'm happy we made it."
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