Slideshow 1

I returned with my brother-in-law on September 6. From the outside, it didn't look too bad other than the fact the towers were gone.

It was good to see the siding was still on the house. The wooden fence between my house and my neighbor Robbie was down.

I was told before I came home that both towers were down. I was glad to see the 60' tower did not pull out the side of the house.

It was a miracle the 60' tower did not fall on the air conditioner. There were some dings in the AC unit but no big damage which means the tower did not hit it.

The 60' tower crashed down onto the fence separating my other neighbor's yard and mine.

The lower tower did not completely break off. It fell in the same direction as the taller tower.

The lower tower fell onto my neighbor Chuck's house, punching a hole in the roof. He was able to patch the hole and we walked the tower off the roof two days later.

I had major roof damage with lots of shingles blown off along with the tar paper, exposing plywood.

My best antenna destroyed.

There were two beam antennas on this tower - both destroyed.

At first I couldn't open the front door. The rain came through the gaps in the plywood on the roof, soaked the sheet rock, causing the ceiling in the foyer to collapse.

I was actually able to repair this hole on the 2nd day back, Wednesday, by using one of the 4x8 pieces of plywood I used to board the foyer window.

It looked like the hurricane came inside the house. There was insulation everywhere.

Although the ceiling did not fall in the living room, water must have come down the inside wall, wetting the carpet and padding. The couch (and love seat) acted as a sponge to soak it up.

Fallen ceiling in the main bathroom. There was still water on the tile floor which ended up running into the main bedroom, soaking the carpet there. I was able to pull the carpet in the main bedroom (by myself).

The sheetrock in the main bathroom hanging over the tub.

The ceiling fell in Shay's computer room, but I don't think much water came in because everything was mostly dry in her room.

We brought her computer with us, but left the monitor and keyboard.

The spare bedroom in the back of the house took a lot of water. Nearly everything in this room was wet. We had only clothes and Shay's old bedroom set in there along with a TV we weren't using at the time.

Mode started growing in the back bedroom. I cleaned up what I could with bleach, but with all the time I had to spend tarping the roof and pulling carpet out of the main bedroom & living room, I was unable to pull the carpet in this room before I had to leave.

Mold on the wall of the spare bedroom.

This is probably where the water came in that soaked the living room carpet. Luckily the ceiling didn't fall there.

It must not have been bad enough to expose a seam, because there was no water on the north side of the main bedroom.

I only brought 4 tarps with me. I was able to get a call out to Shay when we left to go to my brother-in-law's apartment to have her go buy 8 more tarps and a Shop Vac.

Robbie had water damage when his chimney blew off.

The radio room appeared spared. I did not do a thorough inspection but the ceiling looked OK and the only evidence of moisture was the top piece of paper in my printer looked like it got moist, but not wet.

We actually forgot to put the plants in the garage before we left. So I called Robbie and asked him to put them in the corner of the porch and they survived the storm.

Even the ficus trees survived. This was probably because the main blow came from the east and they were protected from the strongest winds.

I forget what this tree is called. It's an Australian tree that we bought for $25 just two weeks before the storm. I planted it on the northeast corner of the house and even though it took the brunt of the wind, it looked like it didn't lose any of its leaves - unbelievable. I have a lot of work to do but this tree gives me hope.

First Look at the House Upon Return

I returned with my brother-in-law on September 6. From the outside, it didn't look too bad other than the fact the towers were gone.