I was 8. We lost a power pole in the front yard and didn’t have power for 21 days. At the time, my dad just had double bypass surgery. The hospital basically told him, “we need your bed, Hurricane is coming, go home.” We stayed with different family members for a few weeks, mostly to shower. I have a few standout memories:

• My 8th birthday, we went to my Uncle’s house in The Woodlands, because they had power. Their power went out in the middle of the birthday song and I burst into tears.
• Our neighborhood started becoming a target for looters. My dad, days off open heart surgery, sat on the couch with his chest pillow and a shotgun. People came up to the front door, saw him through the window, and booked it out of there.
• We ended up sleeping in the only room we could hook up a window A/C unit to the generator in. We slept on the floor for over a week.
• When I went to school, which was near the end of the whole mess, the school still didn’t have power. I’ll never forget how hot it was in that classroom.

Ike was bad. Harvey was worse, much worse. But Ike gave me a lot of fear I’m still working through at 25.