Anahuac Wildlife Refuge Lost Vegetation, Wildlife to Ike

While hurricane Ike has damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, it caused catastrophic damage to several wildlife refuges in Southeast Texas.

Workers at a refuge in Chambers County say it might take years to get back to normal, but they believe nature will prevail.

The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge is known as a destination for birds and birdwatchers. But for now, it's a clean up site.

"The refuge took a double impact, not only to the facilities, but also to the habitat that we have on the refuge," says Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge Manager, Shaun Sanchez.

Hurricane Ike washed over the marsh and killed the vegetation, turning most of the land brown.

Saltwater has also killed much of the wildlife.

"Early after the storm we saw a lot of dead alligators, muskrats, nurtria, raccoon. Some of the critters couldn't get out as readily or fly away," says Sanchez.

Sanchez says a month later, they're still finding animals.

The damage goes beyond the habitat, Ike washed through buildings across the refuge.

"A lot of them, the structural integrity is gone. Some of the buildings are no longer available to us," says Sanchez.

"It's going to take months, if not years to get back to where we were before the storm," says Sanchez.

While they continue to pull debris from the land, Sanchez says they'll also begin trying to get out some of the saltwater and bring fresh water back in, so wildlife can return.

"A lot of birds come in, just not sure if they come in knowing it was a nice place last year, or if there are some available resources," says Sanchez.

Resources he says will bounce back, as they have each time a hurricane or storm has impacted the refuge.

The manager estimates damage in the tens of millions of dollars.

He says they will begin to clean the waterways throughout the refuge, and a controlled burn will be used to get rid of dead vegetation across the 34 thousand acres.