5 Years Ago Today


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Today is the 5 year anniversary of when Hurricane Ike hit. It seems like a lifetime ago! We evacuated and when it was time to come back home it was so surreal driving back. There was damage everywhere. We were holding our breath when we turned onto our street. Thankfully our house had minimal damage but we had a lot of people in our neighborhood who weren't as lucky.  We also had friends who were misplaced. My good friend Amy (she's also my hairstylist) had to completely gut and rebuild their house. For six weeks she and her family came to stay with us until they could find a rent house. My brother was living in Galveston at the time and he lost his apartment as well. We were without power for about 4 days or so, which was much better than a lot of other people.

At the time, I was working at BBVA Compass at Greenway Plaza in Houston. Our building didn't have power for probably a week or so, so we had to meet in an alternate location. It was such an insane week because not only were we dealing with the ramifications of the hurricane but it was also the same week that our economy decided to crash and burn. I remember being called into lots of meetings because it was such a crazy time in the banking industry. That was the same week the feds proposed the emergency bailout plan...to say it was an intense time in both my professional and personal life would definitely be an understatement!

the news...telling everyone to GET. OUT. OR. DIE!!!! (sensationalism at it's finest)

getting ready to evacuate

the mall

trees blown over everywhere
our exit...we couldn't get home right away due to flooding




in our neighborhood...fences down everywhere


our church...the creek flooded the parking lot but the water stopped at the steps to the building


most streets looked like this

Latrice & Susanna...2 of my colleagues

our temporary workspace...where old chairs go to die, apparently

Here is a link to Hurricane Ike: Then & Now photos. Even though it wasn't easy, it's amazing how quickly our area has bounced back. I remember watching the images on the news with such a heavy heart.


Comments

Allison said…
Hi Kelsey---Thanks for your comment and being a blog reader. I have enjoyed 'stalking' my stalkers. HA! Your family is beautiful and I love your 'H' babies. Harrison was in the running for our #4.

It's amazing that it has been 5 years since Ike. We had several friends who were affected badly by Ike. Praying you all are in a much better place today!!
Jocelyn said…
I love the photo slide show you linked to... and it was cool to see your own photos as well.

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