Within a few days Lake Texoma will reach its normal level of 617 feet above sea level. It would be wonderful if that meant everything is already or will soon be back to normal around here. But it’s not.

I drove around yesterday, looking at flood damaged buildings, docks and dead trees. The losses are staggering. Here we are in perfect end-of-summer 90+ degree, sunny weather, with lake levels in the normal range, and yet it’s hard to imagine how long it will take to repair and rebuild.

Truthfully, I couldn’t even take photos. Well, ok, I took one photo of my husband’s welding and mechanic’s shop because it was stripped down to the metal framework, ready for new walls, siding, wiring and insulation. It will be a whole new building soon, unlike the repairs made after the floods in 1990 and 2007.

It was encouraging to see a flood-damaged mobile home being pulled out of Cedar Mills Marina yesterday afternoon, while another one, a fresh, new mobile home was waiting in an empty parking lot, ready to be moved in and set up. That’s a good thing!

Many boat ramps are open and lots of watercraft are whizzing around the lake, and trolling peacefully in coves full of striped bass and catfish. Fortunately, some things don’t have to be repaired… Those stripers and cats are just fine the way they are!

I’m not a marina owner and honestly cannot relate to the inconceivable challenges they face. But I checked around a little bit and discovered that most marinas have not posted their present situation on their websites. Naturally, they are insanely busy putting life back together. And they definitely don’t want to discourage visitors to the lake for Labor Day weekend, well-known as the last hurrah of summer on Lake Texoma.

And this year of the unprecedented floods of 2015, Labor Day weekend will be the ONLY hurrah, for the most part.

Call ahead to make sure your favorite marinas, camp sites and restaurants are open as y’all come back to Lake Texoma for Labor Day 2015!