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January 19, 2006
Our Hurricane Katrina Damage
This post is mainly for my family who havent seen any photos of the damage that we sustained. I know this is nothing compared to a lot of homes that were severely damaged by water and mold. We used to live down in New Orleans so we are quite well aware of how things could have been had we still been living there. But we are now nestled in the hilltops of Louisiana. However the winds were still very damaging from Katrina. It was a close call for us but once we arrived home Tuesday evening, a day after the storm, we pulled into our driveway to see a tree down on our house. It was dark so at that point we werent sure all that it had done for damage, but we knew it was spared to a large degree. Many of our neighbors didnt even board up thier windows and stayed through the storm. We are very thankful we boarded up and left, because if we hadnt we would have had a broken kitchen window with rain damage, and some pretty tramatized children. Even for our area which is 2 hours north of New Orleans, a lot of people were scared to death when the hurricane came in. The older folks around here said they had never seen anything like it.
Here are some photos of our house, the first one was taken the day we left for the storm, as you can see we were boarding up.
Here is the tree that fell, a 40 yr old pine. If we had had a plywood roof our damage would have been extensive. But, as the roofing contractors agreed, what saved our house was the 1x6 tongue and groove deck that the orginal builder used. Smart man! The tree, once it hit the roof, slid off! Thats one tough roof. We did need to replace the shingles and were able to thanks to the efforts of some volunteers from Arkansas.
Here are some details of the corner damage it did do...
As as summary our house did shift 1/2 inch from the north/south direction. As as result we have 2 windows where the glass did break/crack, and the front door sticks bad. And for the yard we lost 31 trees in one acre of land. We were once heavily wooded, now not so much. Here is a shot of the back yard...
Comments (6)
bookyeti:How horrible. :(
*hugs* I'm just glad you guys are safe.
Posted by bookyeti | January 20, 2006 7:18 AM
Posted on January 20, 2006 07:18
Jessica:Thank you for the hugs Bev! We sure can use them these days. We are still feeling the aftermath in many ways really, between financially & emotionally.
We leave for every storm that is headed our way, so that we do stay safe. We figure it?s better to be safe than sorry! I am just glad we learned of it in time! We found out about the storm only 3 days before it made landfall.
Posted by Jessica | January 20, 2006 10:20 AM
Posted on January 20, 2006 10:20
Saple:Glad you are all okay...
Posted by Saple | January 20, 2006 11:16 AM
Posted on January 20, 2006 11:16
Twilightmama:Thank goodness for your great roof! They don't build houses nowadays like they use to. I'm glad you all were safe and I hope things get back to normal for you guys soon. (((Hugs)))
Posted by Twilightmama | January 20, 2006 10:27 PM
Posted on January 20, 2006 22:27
Chari:Jessica!!!!! I'm so glad I found this blog again! I had been so worried about you guys being so close to the hurricane! I'm sorry you had some damage but I'm so glad you "heeded the warnings" and got out!
Much love sent your way sis ((((((hugs)))
Posted by Chari | January 26, 2006 2:50 AM
Posted on January 26, 2006 02:50
Jessica:Thanks Chari!! Thanks for dropping in!! Its good to see you around again! =)) Ive been dropping in to check on you b/c I have been worried about you with your housing situation. I was so relieved when after many false alarms you were FINALLY able to have a place to call your own!! You've been on my mind! OH and we are Netflix neighbors if you still are with them. hehe =)
Posted by Jessica | January 26, 2006 10:07 AM
Posted on January 26, 2006 10:07
