and in 1980 st helens blew i lived about 100 miles south of there back then just a small bit of dust in the air... still..... only a few died ones that chose to die on the mountain... they didnt leave.. on purpose.... and nothing like ike!!!! wasnt much loss of homes... not that many people live on the mountain... that mountain is growing btw not as flat as it was before..

Sorry to hear of your loss, the DFW area did not get any of it we got some rain and much cooler weather but that was all.

I received and e-mail with pictures of some of the damage that Ike did in Galveston and Houston area yesterday some bad ass pictures too. You would not believe it like Magbalihi said there was houses built on stilts that was left and nothing around it but debris.

Pictures of the Chase Bank Downtown Houston on one side it knocked out the first 25 stories windows and the street was covered in glass.

It was really sad what so many are having to deal with.

I do hope that you will be able to rebuild within time at least you have a motor home to live in within the mean time. And hope you took with you the things that could not be replaced.

im curious... and since we dont really have those things here with that much distruction.. id like to know for example the peoples house who floated off somewere and dont know where it is... if they were making house payments on it do they still have to? cause here since the small earthquakes you cant really buy ins for it.. and insurance doesnt cover natural things sure they will when small things happen but not like major... and i could be wrong..... but i recall that... i guess i should check.... but im wondering if its a total loss... as a lot are there.... do the homeowners still owe the 200k that they owed on their home? or does it get swiped out somehow? like a repo on a car here u still owe the money and if it was 800 bucks you still owed and they sell it for 700 u still have to pay it...

I did okay but I live in the Greater New Orleans area. I am sorry to hear about your lost though. A lot of people here with slab houses raised them after Katrina, if your the framework of your structure is sound that might be an option. A lot of people built afresh, but with huge hurricanes there is always the chance of the slab cracking when the soil settles just as their old homes did.

I hope you get enough to do what you need to with house. The decisions you will make in the future will be numerous. The cost of insurance will be high after this. I hope that FEMA will one day have emergency crews that come in and repair or replace the homes instead of having people live in trailers that cost more then to replace homes. Insurance companies don't want to pay the full cost.

we got some 50-80 mph winds here in louisville for a constant 3-4 hours snapped a 75' tree in my backyard which crashed down on my neighbor's garage roof

flip side, i have lots of firewood

hey, look into building a monolithic dome home! they're inexpensive, hurricane/tornado proof, and super energy efficient! not to mention really fukcin cool

www.monolithic.com

No.....as far as I know.....they still make you pay for the house. Mine is on a slab so it didn't float away, but got flooded real good.....I have found that MY mortage company claimed that they were helping, but only did "lip service" to the word help!!! I continued to pay my house note even though I couldn't live in it for the last 3 years. When they placed me in the section of people that had been damaged.....meaning I could defer my payments....or not have a late fee, they would call me on the phone and demand that I talk to them almost every day!!! It was as bad as telephone harrassment even though I was current on my house payments!! Go figure!!!

Everyone is out for the all mighty dollar. This is the same as when the oil fields closing down and were laying people off in the late 70's, early 80's. The banks did the same, then one day they just pushed people into bankruptcy and auctioned off the houses. It doesn't matter what your story is with the banks, they are in it for the money no matter what.

Hey those are pretty kewl looking and a great idea.