Time has brought little change to the rugged landscape of Southeast Texas.

Harold Clubb knows about that and about working the land.

The 76-year-old is a life-long cattle rancher who is now is facing his biggest challenge.

Woodard: “In all your years, have you ever seen anything like this?”

Clubb: “No, this is the worst.”

He’s talking about the devastation Hurricane Ike brought on the cattle industry.

Club says that as many as 6,000 cattle in the region were killed and that as many as 20,000 more were lost or left roaming in the wake of the storm.

Clubb says that these days, he spends much of his time sorting through his herd and trying to decipher which animals belong to him.

“I’m not sure that’s our cow right there,” said Clubb.

“Maybe that was J.R. Euwings or whatever,” he said.

Prior to the storm, Clubb said he had more than 1,300 head of cattle.

How many does he have now?

“Well, I really don’t know because I haven’t gone through and gotten a final count on them.  I figure our loss is somewhere between 15 and 25 percent,” said Clubb.

As Clubb continues to sort through heads and heads of cattle, the animals continue to die.

Clubb says he’s also coping with the loss of land.

You see, everything south of 73 is essentially a dead zone.  

Clubb says that saltwater from the storm surge killed the grass used for grazing and contaminated the water supply.

“We hope and pray that the good Lord will send us about six inches of rain and wash it out of here.  That’s the only solution,” said Clubb.

“There’s not anything we can do,” he said.

For now, Clubb has had to ship much of what’s left of his heard north to graze.

“It’s anywhere from $14 to $15 dollars a head per month. That’s not cheap,” he said.

Clubb said that the fee only covers renting the pasture land and that transporting cattle there and back costs even more.

Then there’s the question of fencing.

It is estimated that Hurricane Ike destroyed much of the fencing south of Highway 73.  Experts say it’ll cost an estimated $10,000 per mile to rebuild from scratch.

“That would run into, if my memory serves me right, $14 to $18 million just to replace the fence south of 73,” said Clubb.

Clubb said the economic storm that looms over our country is another thing he and others in the cattle industry have to endure.

11 News photo

Ike's impact on the cattle industry.

The latest figures show cattle prices have dropped 20 to 30 percent in the month since the storm.

That’s not good since many ranchers rely on credit, said Dave Scott.

He’s with Texas and Southwest Cattle Raiser’s Association.

“You’re up against the wall.  Do you sell out and take your loss now, or do you keep putting costs into them you can’t recover and take your loss later. That’s kind of what you’re facing,” said Scott.

“You could say this is your 401k, so, I guess it would be like having Enron stock,” said rancher Bill White.