As a matter of fact, I am blessed by God. My house had minor damage, in Rita and Ike, vs many of my neighbors losing everything. 2 houses down from me a tree is in the bedroom and next door one is in the center of the living room. My area has many pines over 100ft tall and 4-5ft around. My lot is 1.1 acres with 39 pines on it.
My daughter lives in an RV in Nacogdoches. I told her to get out and she spent the hurricane with us in a motel in Nacogdoches. We came to look at the RV and her neighbor 2 doors down had an oak on top. Some were blown off their blocks. Hers was untouched.
My in laws have a trailer in Livingston, and their trailer was surrounded by downed trees and lite poles, but the trailer was untouched. My mom has a house in Texas City, Texas on Moses Lake and was untouched right in the eye of Ike. My brother has a house in Galveston in Omega Bay, and only had a few feet of water in the lower floor that is a garage.
I would call that a trifecta, but don't know the term for 5 in a row. It would have been so easy and understandable to have at least one or two that were at least heavily damaged, but we are all home with lights tonight except for my brother. My opinion is God loves me. I know where my help comes from.
All I can say is I went through Carla in '61 in Texas City when I was 10. I've seen hurricanes. Just run, don't play with fire. There is no shame in running from these things that change direction at the drop of a hat. I rode out Rita here because I thought it was coming through Galveston. I had 17 people with babies and dogs in my house in Rita. Woodville was decimated. We got very little damage to my house. A pine tree fell between my back door and garage and I couldn't even get out of the door without a chain saw. It tore down my meter loop and damaged 1 piece of tin on my garage. The sound of 120ft pines crashing through houses and shaking the ground is indescribable. It was as if an atom bomb went off here. 31 days with no power.
For every hurricane that misses you, there are many that are suffering unimaginable devastation. Many wanted to stay because Gustav was almost nothing and people left. Every hurricane is different. I don't think because the last one wasn't bad, the next one won't be bad either. Ike was a real hurricane, but it was no Carla. You leave anyway if it's headed for you.
Conroe reporting in. Just got power back this evening about 30 min after I got back from a gas run for the generator.
What was irritating for most was that the other side of the street had power 2 days ago! Well, we did too, but some yo yo on our side probably had his generator wired into his house wrong and it backfed, blowing a transformer. Oh well.
Minor damage to house and property but several houses nearby sustained more moderate and severe damage.
I worked Ivan and Katrina recoveries and sat right thru Dennis so I’ve seen a what hurricanes and can. We are fortunate. I’ve not seen anything from Houston or south but I’ll bet that it is a different world there.