Bet This Guy Is Gonna Be Busy Forever

bert0168

Blog Thursday, September 18, 2008 // Blog home »
The last house standing »


Yesterday, we received an amazing submission from iReport.com user austinheli. His photos showed a lone house standing in a wasteland left in Ike's aftermath.

We contacted austinheli, who is Ray Asgar, a private helicopter pilot based in Austin, Texas. He visited Gilchrist and Galveston Monday to photograph the damage left after Hurricane Ike slammed the coastal area last weekend.

The lone yellow house caught Asgar's attention. He said it was the only structure standing for miles. Considering the extent of Ike's devastation, he said, it was "odd to have nearly any damage to one home."

Several users left comments on Asgar's iReport, joining a debate about whether or not his photos were real. One user who jumped in was Kelley1. "This is my sister's house. It is real," she wrote.

Shortly afterward, Kelley1 uploaded a photo of the yellow house that was taken in May. Kelley1 is Judy Hudspeth and the house belongs to her sister, Pam Adams.

Pam and Warren Adams rebuilt their home in February 2006 after Hurricane Rita destroyed it the previous year. Hudspeth said that the couple hired a contractor to build a home that could withstand a Category 5 hurricane. Warren Adams watched over every step of the construction to make sure it was done correctly.

The couple evacuated to a friend's house in Lufkin, Texas, hours before Ike made landfall last week. Hudspeth said they've been without power since Saturday, and that her sister was "hysterical" when she initially heard everything was gone in Gilchrist.

Pam and Warren have since learned that their house is one of the few in the area to survive the storm. They are returning to see the devastating damage today.
Posted by katie // 4 hours ago
Category: personal_story, news

AtlanticWBConst

Think I saw that on the news tonight too. Simply amazing.

__________________
- Build Well -

BattleRidge

thats crazy, I wonder how that worked out looks fake, but not at the same time

Mike Finley

Thanks, I have my new marketing campaign now.

LNG24

That IS amazing and you can really see damage to the house especially after comparing it to the original version. Yes, he should be very proud and BUSY!

Jason Whipple

Perfect!

__________________
Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
Facebook | Twitter

bobcaygeonjon

ICF I'll bet

Snow Man

What is so amazing ? After all you are on the beach.

You wouldn't expect that ?

__________________
DECOSnowRemoval&IceControl
Serving Delaware County & Philadelphia Pa
610 457-9721

Meetre

If only I'ld caught that before Mike, It would be MY new marketing campaign.

__________________
www.meetre.com LinkedIn Facebook Meetre_Newsletter

MALCO.New.York

The asphalt is just TOO PERFECT.

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

oldfrt

Snow Man,

' On the Beach' is an understatement.I'll bet High tide came pretty close to their front deck.

I used to drive down that beach area in Galveston,30 years ago,before any homes were there.It was a free parking and an unspoiled retreat from our daily grind of slapping up homes at a clip of one a week without any building inspectors in sight.

That was a beach,like Datona Beach was/is where you could park your car twenty feet from the water.

We started a protest to keep the beach open,but the developers won out.
I guess Mother Nature's trying to gain back her real estate!


I guess the building codes will be a little stricter there now,At least one house survived to show that the codes need updating.


Originally Posted by Mike Finley
Thanks, I have my new marketing campaign now.

Hey Mike,

Excellent point,maybe they'll get the message and hire the companies that don't need to employ cheap imported labor!

__________________
https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-...94183374011504

boman47k

Simple, quick, and genius!

boman47k

Hmm, my security software will not let access the links.

Leo G

Saw on an interview that the sister said the house is ruined on the inside. Still totally amazing. But it is not a submarine.

__________________
Sawdust Follows Me Everywhere

http://lrgwood.com
Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

SethHoldren

Awesome. I love it! Nice work, Mike.

I'm linking to this on my blog it's so good.

__________________
Website Critiques

The Construction Marketing Blog

TempestV

I can't tell from the before picture- is the house built on stilts, or is the lower floor closed in? I've seen a few buildings that are designed to be hurricane resistant, where the lower floor is built in such a way that the walls can be washed away quite easily, without taking the rest of the house with them, which is kinda what it looks like here.

boman47k

Tempest looks to me like there are open ares undert he house. I also wondered if this allowed the wind to go under, over, and around the house putting less pressure on one side and letting the house withstand the wind.. and water I guess for the same reasons.

Now that you mentioned it, it does seem there were ground-level walls.

TempestV

I remember building codes being talked about for tall buildings in New Orleans that would require the walls on the bottom 2 floors to be nonstructural and break away, so that if a large wave was to hit it, the building wouldn't get pushed over. I've also heard of houses with a similar feature, and that looks exactly like what happened there.

Snow Man

oK , LETS SAY i SELL INSURANCE.... the answer to you is no.

Common sense big boy , if you cant run with the big dogs , stay offf the beach!

__________________
DECOSnowRemoval&IceControl
Serving Delaware County & Philadelphia Pa
610 457-9721

dlcj

thats wild and big braging points for the builder alright. ICFs is what i was thinking too. It still dont look real though.