Floods from nautral disasters

This is the intersection of HWY 87 and chemical road, which is between Orange and Bridge City, Texas. 2 major intersections which were blocked by debris and water from Hurricane Ike. Keep in mind, this intersection is about 20 inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

As far as anyone could remember, this part of Orange County, Texas had never flooded – at least not this bad anyway.  When Hurricane Ike pushed the storm surge into the communities of Southeast Texas, a lot of people were caught unprepared.  An unknown number of people did not have flood insurance, mainly because the area where they live had never flooded.

Some of the lessons learned:

You can not protect your house against something like a hurricane. What you do, is make sure you have plenty of insurance, both flood and home owners.

My mom and dad will be ok. They have home owners and flood insurance. For the most part they will recover.

My brother had flood insurance, but nothing on the contents. Meaning he lost everything in his house with 4 – 5 feet of water.

My buddy did not have any flood insurance. He got about 2 feet of water in his house and has lost almost everything.

To protect your family and your property, have a fall back position. My family used my house as such a location. They had a safe place to stay, instead of sleeping in hotels and spending a small fortune on rooms and food.

When the local authorities call for an evacuation, heed those warnings, pack up your stuff and leave.  Property can be replaced, lives can not.