The main road leading to the Texas City dike's usually pretty busy on Sundays, but the oil spill cleanup in the Ship Channel now has businesses warning folks the area's closed. Police are setting up road blocks, turning regular visitors like Ric Ware and his wife away.
"Well, the police ain't telling us nothing," said Ware. "It's been really hush hush."
Many neighbors are on edge, watching as trucks haul extra boom and cleanup supplies to the Ship Channel's staging area. Some people, like local fisherman Mario Hernandez, wonder just how bad the oil spill may be.
"It's going to hurt us a lot," he said. "I mean, these people are going to suffer until they get this fixed and then after it's fixed, what's it going to be like?"
Fisherman say the Coast Guard's already warning them to avoid catching fish in the area and wildlife officials are asking folks to report any impacted animals
"It kind of makes me wonder how my fishing is going to be in the near future," said Ware.
Some locals say they've seen accidents nearly happen in the Ship Channel before, but no collisions like Saturday's crash between a tanker and barge.
Phil Midler teaches kite-boarding classes in the impacted area. He's also among those waiting and watching to see what happens.
"I don't know what we are going to do," he told us. "This is our spot to teach, I don't know where we are going to teach."
Many of the locals say it's now just the waiting game, waiting and watching to see what happens.
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