Back from Grand Isle, Island Strong...

As we approach the one year anniversary of Hurricane Ida (Aug. 29th), my trip down Highways 90 & 308 & Highway 1 to Grand Isle revealed much is still needed to be done.  As this morning's paper showed, many of those living paycheck to paycheck with no insurance can't afford to repair their homes.  I took some pictures on the west end of Grand Isle that suffered the brunt of Ida.

The bottom reminded me of Hurricane Camille where you only had the stairway to nowhere left.  But there also was much new construction with both marinas (Bridgeside & Grand Isle) up and running.  The top picture is from the Wakeside restaurant where we enjoyed a nice shrimp platter.  The sunsets are still as beautiful as ever!

I was surprised at how wide the beach has grown as the rock barriers have worked as the late Mayor Andy Valence believed they would.   The burrito levee is exposed at many locations, but the government will begin repairs in September.  Hopefully no hurricanes will come close in 2022?

We stayed at a very comfortable camp and I encourage any of you who love to catch fish to book a stay on the Island as they really need our support.

We caught 4 bull reds with the little fella holding a 21 lb 8 oz and the bottom showing Capt. Pat Bellinger & Dr. Rob Muller with a 24 lb+ fish.  Attendance was good considering the battering the island took from Ida.  When I left, the tropics were quiet except in the Pacific.

All the experts keep saying August will turn active, but certainly not during the next 10 days.  The Saharan dust layer just keeps coming off of Africa crushing any waves and that is a good thing.

There are clusters of clouds with a surge of Gulf moisture moving over us.  We should see another week of daily storms keeping us near average/normal temperature wise.

The cold fronts are coming across the northern states giving them delightful good feel air.  Only Texas remains in the grip of this summer's heat wave.

The clouds and showers for many today meant temps not so hot.   A look back at July found it to be very close to the long term average/normal after a record hot June.  The 84.1 average was close to the long term 84.0 normal.

The first week in August is still, historically, the hottest time of the year.  The next 7 days will see some daily subtle changes, but nothing that stands out.

We're in August Gang, the heart of the hurricane season coming up.  I like the fact that models keep us quiet for the next 10-14 days.  Only 8 weeks until October!   Stay tuned!