Remembering Ike

Its been a year now since Hurricane Ike
plowed through our neck of the Delgado
Delta. This time last year, the wind and
rain pummeled us relentlessly. It felt
like we were in a car wash for 6 hours.
It would not stop and when it did, and
we went out to survey the damage, we
had enough to make us want to cry. Of
course, we considered ourselves the lucky
ones. We had power, more on, than off.
All our neighbors had none. Plus we had
supplies and water since all up and down
the highway and points north and south,
stores were closed because of lack of
power. Going to town to fetch some cat
food, I found one grocery store who would
go in with flashlights and fetch what you
needed, if they had it. Most anything that
required refrigeration was out in the parking
lot waiting to be picked up and driven to
the landfill. It was CASH only too. People
with plastic were really hurting. I bought
some people some stuff since I also had
plenty of cash.

What I learned from Hurricane Ike, in the
aftermath, relative to damage was that it
is important to take photos. The insurance
adjuster came to our place months later
and by that time most of the cleanup was
over. We had three blue tarps on roofs
but for the most part, it seemed tranquil
and manicured again. You could not see
what was missing anymore. The adjuster
took his notes and later sent us a figure
of $500 to apply to our bill of $6000 plus
for the cleanup. HUH~~?? That is how we
felt too. Turns out that no one had looked
at the disc we sent along with our claim
and bills. Frantically, we called and when
it was discerned that no one had checked
out the disc, they did. I had taken hundreds
of photos with my digital camera. It was
not long after that the insurance company
sent the rest of the money. The point being,
if you are in a disaster, have some way to
document the damage, the cleanup and then
make copies to send with your claims. We
tried to get an adjuster out earlier than
they came but that seemed a lost cause. In
the end however, it was only my own effort
to back up those claims that paid off.

The company who came and got the trees off
the roof was a little annoyed at first that
I was wanting to take a gazillion photos
but I proposed that if I got some good ones
they would be good for promotional material
or a website. I offered to make a disc for
them too and grant permission to use the
photos. In the end, they were grateful too.

Bottom line...be prepared.

There is still a ton of damage to the south
of us, although the will to rebuild and put
Ike behind us is strong. It is raining like
crazy today or I might even consider going
to Galveston just to walk the beach, and
remember those who lost their lives in that
storm. May their souls be at peace~~

blessings,
Zoe

-_-



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