Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike came ashore and did much damage in Cameron and south Calcasieu Parish. I have friend who lost her house and one who doesn't yet know. We lost many windows and storm shutters. Our outdoor kitchen was (again) trashed. Stinky marsh mud covers everything....but aside from that the new house is unfinished and intact.

I have cut all ties with my former contractor. A year to get the house to the sheetrock stage is too long. I have already paid him enough to build the entire house. I thought that he was an honorable person; I was mistaken. I'll have to deal with that aspect later. For now I have someone else finishing up. It is an expensive lesson that I will have to live with.

Flooded House? Here's what you can do to save your home.

Below is the post that I sent to the hurricane section of http://www.craigslist.com/ It is what I learned from having my house flooded. If your house is flooded use this as a guide to saving your house. Don't wait for someone else to clean up your place, get busy! You will save yourself a lot of further damage if you can follow these steps right away.

House Flooded? Here's how to help yourself! < DanielLee > 09/13 14:31:58

I found that after returning to my flooded home in 2005 I didn't quite know what to do. Here is a list that I made up and followed. Feel free add to it. If you have a friend who was flooded please, please print this out and give it to them.

Turn off the power at the breaker box.

If you can locate a camera take lots of pictures. Be sure to take pictures of the outside of the house as well.

Wear rubber boots, playtex type gloves, and eye protection, if needed.

Clean out the fridge right away!

Get all of the ruined furniture to the road or in the front yard. Store good stuff elsewhere. Remove valuables!

Find a Squeegy or wide shovel.

Cut the drywall above the high water mark. Remove any drywall or paneling at least a foot above the high water mark.

Remove any wet insulation.

Get all of the wet stuff (insulation, drywall, and carpet) out of the house.

If you can find a butane heater open the windows and fire it up.

You should be able to drive a lot of moisture out of the windows before mold takes over.

Go to Sam's Club and buy something called Odo-Ban (a little goes a long way). It will kill the smell. Use only as directed! The sooner you do it the better!

These are all immediate repairs. Most can do it themselves.

Here's a few more tips: If your photos are all wet, keep them wet (for now) store them in water until you can dry them properly. Drying photos (behind glass or plastic photo album covers) will stick to anything that they dry to, which will ruin them.

Watch all contractors! Only deal with those who are reputible and established. There will be a lot of fly by night contractors fleeing to your area. If they can't afford to start without your money, chances are high that they will rip you off. Do not pay up front, like I did. My contractor came recommended by a friend. Now, I am tens of thousands of dollars over budget and don't even have the sheetrock up. It has been a year since my rebuild started. Don't get screwed....like I did!

And here is what I added to the post:

Generator Safety Tips < DanielLee > 09/14 07:06:05

Please remember that if you are running a generator or using a butane or propane heater to dry your house out follow these precautions: Operate any generator outside, in a well ventilated area. Well ventilated does not mean in the garage. If you are drying your house out with a butane or propane heater get it working that then get out of the house. Both devices give off poisonous carbon monoxide gas, that will kill you, if breathed in over a period of time. You cannot smell carbon monoxide gas. It will put you to sleep and then you will die.

Please be careful!

Good Luck to all!

Hurricane Ike hits Cameron and Lake Charles

Hurricane Ike has now come and gone. I hope that the flood will have subsided enough so that someone can go and have a look at the Reon "camp" house. I know that I lost everything that was at ground level, including my shop. Everyone who I know is safe, though rattled. There was a lot of water that came in, more than hurricane Rita. I hope that everyone survives, but I know better.

What is happening with this world? There was a hurricane in the area around 1900, Audrey hit in 1957. Rita arrived after almost 50 years, in September 2005. Now, we have Gustav and Ike hit the area (a wide area) in September of 2008.

Hurricane Ike report. Here's what I know as of early Sunday morning.

Graywood rental houses:

Primrose: Report from renter that there are broken windows and that the storm shutters broke. The ocean came right to the front door (and we're 20 miles from the ocean), but didn't get inside. We likely lost all of our landscaping due to salt water.

Camellia: No report but I suspect no water as it is slightly higher than Primrose house. We likely lost all of out landscaping due to salt water

Black Bayou/Reon Road: Surrounded by many feet of water. I saw a picture of a neighbor's house that had three feet of water in the yard. The picture was taken over 12 hours before the actual storm arrived! I hope that we did not have over ten feet of flood waters or our new house would be flooded. The Black Bayou bridge is closed (to vehicles). I will call my friend Bobby's cousin (who is the bridge supervisor) for an update later this morning. But during Rita the motor burned out and it took a tug to open and close the bridge.

Friend Ron's house: Unknown. Ron is one mile south and right on the lake. His home is the first house at the south end of Deatonville and took the full force of the storm.

Friend Karen Thibodeaux's brand new house: Completely ruined and flooded, along with her brand new car.

Friend Dorothy Carter's new home in Creole: It is in the same situation as our Black Bayou/Reon Road house. The entire area is submerged.

The problem with this storm for our region was the high storm surge. The winds topped out about 90 miles per hour.