It was 6:30am on Friday, September 12th, 2008, and my alarm had just gone off. My normal grogginess was unapparent as I hurried out of bed and made my way to my desk in my apartment. I logged in to my computer as fast as I could not knowing what to expect, but before looking at one bit of weather data, I pulled up a webcam that looked down onto the Strand District of Galveston Island and was immediately shocked and whirled into disbelief. Storm surge water from Galveston Bay was already up to the top of the nearly two-foot high curbs near 25th street in front of the Railroad Museum. I jumped out of my chair and ran back to my room to get my phone. As I fumbled to start dialing my Dad’s number, my wife asked what was wrong…