Well, we survived Rita. We decided to ride out the storm, and now in hind sight, that was a horrible idea. I live in Warren TX which is midway between Beaumont and Jasper, and was in the direct path. I have never been through a hurricane, and needless to say, I had no idea what to expect. The wind was absolutely unbelievable! We live on 75 acers with many tall pine trees and we lost at least 100 trees. Most were uprooted and some where twisted off about half way down. We had some severe roof damage that caused my entire downstairs to be flooded with about 1.5" of water. Water was coming out of my light fixtures and air conditioning vents. The blowing rain was coming so hard and sideways that water was also coming in under all of my doors on the back side of the house. We lost power at about 11:00 PM and did not get it back until today. Let me tell you, the Texas heat and humidity has been unbearable. The heat index a couple of days after the storm was 110'. The mosquitos have been about to carry us off, along with a horrible surge of fire ants. Me and my husband have both been bit by a yellow jacket as well. I feel like I have been camping in the wilderness for all of this time. We only have two little gas stations in our town, and both had damage as well as lost power. So there has been no gas, food, water etc. They had all of the roads blocked in every direction due to downed trees and power lines. Thank god we had well stocked supplies. Eleven days with no power are phone is enough to make anyone go crazy. At least the cell phones worked a little.
Our insurance adjuster has still not come out to access our damages so that we can begin the repairs. We spoke with him and he is still in Mississippi and has not been able to get a hotel reservation anywhere over here yet. Seems all of the hotels are full due to Katrina and Rita.
Now that I have got all of that off my chest I feel so much better.
All 3 of my yorkies are doing great, all of my family is safe, and life will go on.
I hope all of my fellow Rita and Katrina neighbors are doing well too.