Galveston bracing for significant surge from Hurricane Harvey

As vacationers in Galveston gratefully lapped up a last day of sun amid what can fairly be called "the calm" before a serious storm a sense of controlled urgency is building on the Island.

"It sucks. It does not feel good. They've already called and said they want our golf cart back," said Kim on a beach vacation from Wisconsin.

"We just got word about the storm surge and that's unsettling," said Cheryl Ford a home owner in Jamaica Beach.

Unsettling because with a predicted surge of five to six feet, millions, if not billions, of dollars worth of property is subject to damage -- literally anything that's not tied down can float away.

FOX 26 caught up with Harris County Justice of the Peace Don Coffey securing his place on Jamaica Beach.

"After Ike I had four boats on my property, none of them mine," said Coffey.

At Sea Isle Marina on Galveston's west end, craft were coming out the water as quickly as the mostly Houston-based owners could reach them.

"The water is going to come up, and it's going to cut you off from getting in and out the Island and if you get in you may not get out. The thing is to do it while it's a sure thing and get out early," said Lyndel Berry who owns both a house and a boat in Jamaica Beach.

At Jamaica Beach institution Seven Seas Grocery, veteran islanders were stocking up on essentials with most like Donna Tinari planning to hang tough through Harvey.

"Just be safe. Use your common sense. That's all. Common sense, that's the key," said Tinari adding, "It's not fun, but it's not new."