SARGENT, Texas – Many people are hitting the road to head out of town for the holiday weekend. But if you're heading to Sargent Island, you're going to run into a problem.
According to TxDOT, at around 11 p.m. Thursday a barge hit the Sargent Swing Bridge across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
Genesis Energy, the company that operates the barge, said they're still investigating how it happened but plan to pay for bridge repair costs.
"I felt a tremor, like an earthquake," said Carla Rae Southard of the collision.
Southard owns Sting Rae's Waterfront Bar & Grill, which is right next to the bridge. She said she usually quadruples sales over this holiday weekend.
"I said, 'Oh my Lord, it's Memorial Day weekend. This is not going to be good,'" Southard said.
The bridge has been closed since the barge hit. It is the last swing bridge in Texas, connecting the community of Sargent to Sargent Island, which has about 50 permanent residents. Another 150 vacation homes are also on the island.
"I was looking for a good weekend off and now that's not going to happen," Tom Floyd said.
Floyd owns a beach house on Sargent Island. He drove down from Houston early Friday afternoon thinking he would get a head start to his weekend. Then he saw the bridge was closed.
"We were going to bring the boat down, have the grandkids and everybody over, but it's kind of messed up now," Floyd said.
TxDOT crews were out surveying the damage all Friday afternoon. As of right now they don't know how long it will take to repair the bridge.
"It's hopefully not going to be too disappointing," Southard said. "I like being optimistic."
In the meantime, the only way to get to and from the island is by boat. Southard said a few of her friends will be offering up their personal boats to get people across.
Genesis Energy is leasing a boat to shuttle people back and forth. Ferry service is expected to begin at 6 a.m. Saturday.
The closure is not impacting barge travel and nobody was injured when the barge hit.