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</div></div> <p>“Duck season is out. I don’t think I will have a season. Maybe a little in January,” he said, then after pausing for a second added, “I probably don’t have any duck blinds left.” </p> <p>A duck blind or a limit of trout are low priorities for Smyth whose home was directly in the path of Harvey when it made landfall Aug. 25 smack dab on top of the town of 11,000. Like the entire town, Smyth’s property felt the bluster of the category 4 storm that was packing winds upwards of 130 miles per hour. </p> <p>“It is not good,” Smyth said early last week as his family was in the beginning process of cleaning up. “We got pretty beat up. We have 15 trees down in our yard. Three are on the house. We have holes in the house. It flooded out the house. It looks like a war zone around the house. They say our area was hit the hardest.” </p><div class="within-article-text-banner" style="float:left; margin-right:15px;clear:left; margin-bottom:12px;"><!-- TBB/etfinalscore_160x600-2-->
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</div></div> <p>In this case his family is not in it alone. Smyth said the pictures on the news and in papers cannot possibly show the true picture of what the town located about 30 miles up the coast from Corpus Christi looks like. </p> <p>“It was surreal when we pulled in. You cannot recognize the area,” he noted. </p> <p>He said the difference between a hurricane’s destruction and that of a tornado is that the tornado will make a swath of damage. The hurricane took out everything. </p> <p>Since moving to the coast from Northeast Texas Smyth has been through two other hurricanes, neither of which directly hit Rockport. Those experiences had the Smyths initially thinking they could stay in their home as the storm hit. </p> <p>“We were going to ride it out when they said it was going to be a category 1. Then they said it was going to be a category 2 or 3 and we said we needed to get out of here. I was not going to put my wife and son through that. Then it became a category 4. Thank God we got out of here. I am glad we didn’t stay,” he said. </p> <p>The family went inland to Pearsall until the storm passed. Before returning Smyth stocked up on supplies including a new chain saw. It was necessary just to get from the road to their house. </p> <p>“We couldn’t get into the driveway. I had to cut huge trees. It took five hours to get from the driveway to the house,” Smyth said. </p> <p>Sadly the damage from Harvey was not the only thing residents in Rockport had to deal with. With local law enforcement overwhelmed the human vermin that so often follows natural disasters now days had already arrived and was looting homes and businesses. Smyth said he spent two nights sleeping in the house armed to keep out the unwanted. </p> <p>By Tuesday the Texas National Guard along with DPS troopers and local law enforcement were protecting the town. </p> <p>As they began the task of clearing trees, tearing out carpeting, damaged sheetrock and gathering their belongings Smyth said they really did not know where to start. Do you pick up this board or that? Clear that tree limb or work on the other side of the house? </p> <p>“My son is 13 years old and it is pretty traumatic to him. He has been dragging off limbs, but is sitting there dead quiet not knowing what to do,” Smyth said. </p> <p>Along with the main structure Smyth said his wife Michelle’s art studio behind the house was flooded and destroyed. In between was the miracle that is so often seen after storms like this. An aboveground swimming pool and picnic table were found sitting just as they were the day before the storm. </p> <p>With the cleanup under way Smyth said he is most impressed by the sense of community that has shown up in Rockport. Citizens are not waiting for outside help, nor are they waiting for someone to ask for help. Everyone is helping each other the best they can. </p> <p>Smyth is not the only guide in town that is going to be out of business for a while. Best guess estimates are that power may not be restored for at least three weeks, but maybe as many as 10. </p> <p>The rooms that are available in the motels still standing are already booked for months by repair crews coming into the area. And if you could get to a ramp, there may not be a ramp to launch at, and Smyth said around Rockport those are a low priority under the best of conditions. </p> <p>“If you are in the guide business you are done for a while,” he said. </p> <p>For now the Smyths are able to laugh some and remain amazed at the oddities created by Mother Nature they keep discovering. They know they survived Hurricane Harvey with the only thing that cannot be replaced, their lives. </p> <p>  </p> <p>Have a comment or opinion on this story? Contact outdoor writer Steve Knight by email at outdoor@tylerpaper.com. 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