Surviving Hurricane Ike

Surviving Hurricane Ike was a bit harder than I had expected. Although the news media gave us Houstonians (and the surrounding areas) plenty of warning, we still thought deep down that it would not be as bad as it was; but we were wrong. It was bad, very bad.

The night of the hurricane our house shook, the wind made noises I never thought possible, and I swore I heard a tornado - although none actually came through our area. Our windows shook and I prayed they wouldn't shatter; debris landed on the roof and I prayed a huge tree wouldn't come down and take us with it. The rain poured harder than any thunderstorm I've ever been in; and the water came down horizontally - which made for a very ugly mess in the morning.

I heard water dripping inside the house so with our flashlights we snuck out of our "safe house" and looked up at our master bedroom ceiling only to spot a leak from the attic. We immediately went up into the attic with flashlights, towels and pots to control the leak despite the fact that it was 4:00 AM and it was about the time when the eye of the hurricane was just passing over our neighborhood. My husband took up as much wet insulation as possible and did his best to dry the area, but we later learned this was just one of the problems caused by Ike.

A few hours later I heard another 'thud' on the roof; this time the damage was worse. The water had seeped in through a stain glass window in our attic as well as a dormer, and it leaked all the way down the walls and into the hardwood floors. I noticed white powder coming out from the floors and knew there was a problem with the sheetrock. I was smart enough to call the insurance company to make a claim at 5:00 AM. The funniest part about the hurricane was the fact that Euri, our newly adopted dog, took advantage of the situation and slept on our mattress which was now on the floor in our "safe room." He wouldn't even move over to let us sleep - at least he wasn't anxious or worried; he just wanted to hog the bed.