Hurricane Ike

Ah where to start.....this past week has been quite exciting and very tiring for us. Hurricane Ike was set to make landfall on Galveston Island last Saturday which sent us scurrying for hurricane supplies and food. This was not the first hurricane to come our way and with the past couple we had walked away with no damage, even surprisingly little rain, so we weren't too concerned. We decided not to board up the windows on the house or buy a generator. So Friday night we put Grant to bed and parked ourselves in front of the local news channel to watch the hurricane come through. Everything was pretty uneventful early in the evening so we went to bed with little worries. About 2:00am we were awakened by the howling wind and things hitting the roof over and over again. We still had power at that point so we turned on the local news to see that the hurricane was starting to spin directly over the house. Looking out the window, we discovered that the shingles were beginning to be blown off the house and they were scattered all over the back and front yard. At that point all we could do is wait and listen. The power went out around 3:00am and the hurricane continued around us. Matt and I did not sleep much after that but Grant, being the great sleeper that he is, slept the whole night through and woke up refreshed at 7:30.

When the sun came up it was still raining but Matt went out to assess the damage to the house. The roof was completely torn up and the remaining shingles were flapping in the wind.

We had tons of shingles all over the yard and the front yard tree was uprooted but nothing major...or so we thought. As we were looking around the house for other damage we noticed that the ceiling of the guest bedroom was leaking and dripping down onto the carpet in numerous places...we decided that this was from the shingles getting torn off the roof and the rain water coming in. Nothing we could do about it now, so we pulled back the carpet where it was soaking wet to let it air dry a little. By this point we were both frustrated with everything and hot and sweaty with no power so we decided to pack it up and go to my parents house in New Braunfels.

Matt decided to come back home after a few days in New Braunfels to start the insurance process on the roof and other house damages. Well when he got home he found something we never expected......

That is, was, the ceiling in the guest bedroom where the ceiling was leaking. It completely collasped all over the place and the attic insulation was everywhere!! What a mess!

So that is what hurricane Ike left us with.....all the way in Tomball, Texas about 75 miles from the coast! A very scary storm but we are blessed that we only sustained minor damage. On a happier note we did have a wonderful time on our week long "vacation" in New Braunfels. (Post on that to follow!)