Katrina at the marina

Moline's Marina was hit dramatically by Monday's winds, tearing the canopy completely off the row of slips which berthed the largest yachts in the harbor and draping it over boats in the next dock and the harbor office. The winds tore 3 more canopies off some smaller slips on the north east end of the marina and deposited them over a fence and into the adjacent parking lot, one wrapping itself around a light pole, leaving the area looking like it had been hit by a mini-Katrina.

And again, if you're in the Pat Robertson/Falwell/Hagee camp, believing that God uses weather events to punish those he doesn't like, you'll have to explain why God hates rich people so much that he'd damage the slips holding the largest boats and spare the smaller ones. Why does God hate very wealthy people? And why would God, who of course is a Republican, do damage to the yachts of the wealthy, (and white ones to boot!) whom God favors and as we all know, are possessed of high moral values??

I bet one of those yachts was owned by a gay. That must be it.

But the bright side is that they now have that excuse they've been waiting for to buy a bigger boat.

Click pictures to enlarge
The canopy was torn off one row of slips and landed against the sterns of the next row. Quite the mess. The city of Moline and it's citizens will now have to pay for the clean up it's assumed since it's now city property.

Note that the metal wasn't torn off, but rather the entire canopy, wood spars and all, were just ripped out. The inflatable dingy didn't fare too well either. But it's still afloat.

A large hunk was deposited over the marina maintenance building and a Cherokee parked next to the building.



The large canopy used to cover these boats. Note in the foreground the blue angle irons that hold the remains of the spars. One is snapped off and the other broken and knocked over. And the pot of geraniums in the lower right is still sitting there as if nothing had happened. I noted that a house less than 300 ft away had a Cubs flag in a holder by their front door, and it didn't get blown off or broken. An omen?

The entire dock had been pulled sideways collapsing the first slip (which was presumably unoccupied) Remains of the spars and torn up planks remain. The boats show no visible damage, probably due to the fact that the canopies were pulled up and off without hitting them. If you look closely (click to enlarge) you'll see a couple of guys sitting calmly on the "Dolphin", the boat at the end of the dock. They were the only people there, even several hours after the storm had passed.

The storm didn't leave the boats lined up too well after it tried to turn the dock into a parasail.

This boat managed to wedge itself firmly sideways in it's slip, pushing out the docks on either side.

The covers to three smaller slips blew off, over a fence, and wrapped itself around this light pole, carrying with it remnants of a boat's power line.



Pieces of the canopies were strewn to the east of the marina.