From September 18, 2008 comes the story with the most traffic here at the timeshare blog: "Hurricane Ike and Silverleaf Timeshares". This story generated a huge amount of interest - not only from Silverleaf timeshare owners, but from those who live near the Gulf of Mexico coast. Some areas devastated by Hurricane Ike will never be rebuilt. Galveston is steadily rebuilding and will come back strong. Here's the story:

Silverleaf Resorts, Inc released a statement yesterday about their Texas timeshares that were damaged by Hurricane Ike. The Silverleaf timeshare most directly hit by the storm was Silverleaf's Seaside Resort in Galveston. When Ike made landfall as a strong Cagegory 2 storm, it produced a huge amount of damage all along the Texas and Louisiana coastline. Silverleaf Resorts, Inc stated that " While there does not appear to be any structural or substantial flood damage to the interiors of any of the buildings at the resort, wind damage to exteriors and roofs was observed as well as a fair amount of sediment and debris that will need to be removed from the resort."

Given Galveston's history with one catastrophic storm, it looks like the seawall built in the early 1900's may have prevented similar damage. Still, the process of reestablishing the infrastructure will take time. Contingencies for this type of disaster are well thought out and the owners of Silverleaf Seaside Resort can be confident that they will be able to return to their vacation resort.

Near my home is Silverleaf's Piney Shores Resort. Officials at Silverleaf say that while Piney Shores sustained some wind damage, it will be fully operational as soon as power is restored. The eye of hurricane Ike passed a few miles east of here sparing us the worst part of the storm.

Please feel free to share your Ike stories here - especially stories of random acts of kindness and neighbors helping neighbors.

The Galveston Seawall Under Construction in 1905:

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The headline from Business Wire October 9th was "Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. Accepting Reservation Requests for Its Seaside Resort on Galveston Island Effective Immediately". Rooms will start coming available next Friday, Oct 17th and they expect to be fully operational by the end of November.  The Galveston timeshare resort was battered by 100 mph winds and rain by Hurricane Ike 3 weeks ago. Most of Galveston Island sustained damage but has quickly been working to restore power, water, and essential services to the area. Silverleaf Resorts stated that their insurance has adequate coverage to "mitigate these damages". (source)

In my last article about the storm I received a lot of interest from the photo of Galveston Island's Seawall. The photo was taken on July 31, 1905.

To the northeast, Bolivar Peninsula experienced major damage from the tidal surge.  Few homes survived the surge. Conversely, a notable example of strict building code enforcement would be Tiki Island, located just north of Galveston. This waterfront neighborhood of about 850 homes was established in 1982. Homes built there featured a "break away" bottom floor. As the tidal surge arrived, these homes were battered with 5 to 6 feet of water on the ground floor. Today only one home is in danger of being condemned. The others sustained damage but still stand. Other code requirements included "plywood on both sides of a home’s walls and 2-inch-by-6-inch studs to frame all outside walls." (source)

Silverleaf Resorts, Inc released a statement yesterday about their Texas timeshares that were damaged by Hurricane Ike. The Silverleaf timeshare most directly hit by the storm was Silverleaf's Seaside Resort in Galveston. When Ike made landfall as a strong Cagegory 2 storm, it produced a huge amount of damage all along the Texas and Louisiana coastline. Silverleaf Resorts, Inc stated that " While there does not appear to be any structural or substantial flood damage to the interiors of any of the buildings at the resort, wind damage to exteriors and roofs was observed as well as a fair amount of sediment and debris that will need to be removed from the resort."

Given Galveston's history with one catastrophic storm, it looks like the seawall built in the early 1900's may have prevented similar damage. Still, the process of reestablishing the infrastructure will take time. Contingencies for this type of disaster are well thought out and the owners of Silverleaf Seaside Resort can be confident that they will be able to return to their vacation resort.

Near my home is Silverleaf's Piney Shores Resort. Officials at Silverleaf say that while Piney Shores sustained some wind damage, it will be fully operational as soon as power is restored. The eye of hurricane Ike passed a few miles east of here sparing us the worst part of the storm.

Please feel free to share your Ike stories here - especially stories of random acts of kindness and neighbors helping neighbors.

The Galveston Seawall Under Construction in 1905: