I was one of the first ones in at 6 am. It was dark, but the destruction was too visible even in the lights of the RV I was driving. 

I saw all of the photos prior to my reentry,  but this was real.  Fields of debris. I had to drive around a slanting electric pole.  I barely missed it.  I found the truck I had left behind parked in the post office lot. 

It had been blown back into a ditch with other vehicles and had three to four inches of mud on the seats, in the glove compartment, back of the truck etc.  A total loss.  I managed to salvage a rod and reel that I figure can be cleaned off, oiled and used again.  That's it.
 
For the locals that didn't make it back, the Eagle's Club is more or less gone.  The ballroom caved in, all windows blown out, and not much to look at.  I was the last guy to win a pool tournament there.  My name was on the wall. American Café did not fare well as the photo will attest to.  Bob's Restaurant looks like it was hit by a bomb and travel trailers behind the restaurant wrecked and mangled.  I had friends there.
 
Nature's Best RV Park wiped clean.   Dick and Dottie must be devastated just like their property. Main building gone too.  Foundation left behind to mark the spot, but covered with so much mud and sand that you still can't see it.  Cars and trucks everywhere, turned on their backs asking for mercy.  Miles of what looks like open land with debris scattered as far as the eye can see.  Pilings are plentiful but nothing sits on top of them.  I had to slow down for a wandering cow to cross the road.
 
Bolivar RV Park seemed serene.  Main building looked fine if you didn't look too close. A couple of trailers rolled, but the lake was looking good, and I saw a couple of ducks strolling around wondering where all the people went.  I bet you that George Vratis will be back.  He's the owner and the kind of guy you would want at your back in a pinch.
 
Service trucks everywhere: their crew's job: to get electricity back up.  To what?  No customers.  Coming back toward Winnie, traffic was backed up all the way to Spindletop Bayou.  Maybe 20 miles or so. 

I am still skellshocked.  Rebuild?  That's what people are saying. Forget it. Nothng to rebuild.  Starting from scratch is a better term. I drove all the way back at about 40 miles an hour.  Nobody passed me.  I had tears falling most of the way.  Wondering about all the people.  Where did they go?  What will they do now?  Businesses gone, homes gone; lives changed forever.   It's not about the buildings.  It's about the people.  Neighbors.  Friends.  Where are you?  What now?
 
Vance Redden for Guidry News Online
www.vanceredden.com