I have not written about it here before but I had some problems in the recent Hurricane Ike that hit Galveston, Texas. At first, I was not going to leave the island. Hell, it was only a Level 2 Hurricane. What is the big deal? Seriously, the island gets brushed by hurricanes just about every year and there is almost never much of a problem.

But, I figured I would not have power for 3 or 4 days and that is no fun. So, I put up the storm shutters to keep the windows from being broken. I got the 2 cats and made sure they had enough food and water to last a week. I made sure to lock the kitty door so they couldn’t get out into the weather. I packed a suitcase and left the island to go stay with my ex-wife who was kind enough to offer to let me stay there. 

So about 2 pm Friday I left the island. Hmmmmm. I noticed that the tide was up quite a bit as I was leaving. Well, there WAS a hurricane on the way, so no big deal, right?

Well, the hurricane hit late that night around midnight, I think. It turned out to be a BIG storm, affecting a huge area of southeast Texas, including where I was staying at the ex’s house. So, no power. No Power all day Saturday, either. 

And apparently a fair portion of the island had gotten water in the houses. That had NEVER happened in that house in 60 years so I was only a little worried, but…

Sunday, they were apparently NOT allowing residents back on the island. But I drove down anyway, and sold the cop on the (true) story that I had 2 cats in my house I needed to rescue. He asked me what I was thinking leaving them during a hurricane, but he let me on.

As I drove toward the house, I could see some sign that there had been quite a bit of water on the island, finally seeing waterlines on the outside of some of the buildings…maybe as much as 5 feet of water! But, not in our house, surely!

So I finally got to our street, 3 blocks away, I could see residue from the storm on steps of the houses…dang. 

Finally, I get to our block and there are waterlines on the outsides of a couple of houses…5 feet high. Oh my.

As I come up on my house, I look through the clump of trees in the front yard…what the heck is that on the front porch?

It is the roof of the front porch. The house not only flooded…it burned to the ground.

I stop my pickup and sit there literally open-mouthed, just gaping. Let me tell you, the last thing you expect to find when inspecting your hurricane ravaged house is that it flooded AND burned. It just leaves you confused, befuddled. Can’t think straight.

Literally, everything in the world that I owned was destroyed, except one small suitcase full of shirts and underwear.

Then it hit me. I had locked my 2 cats in that house. Trying to keep them safe from bad weather I had ensured their death either from drowning or the fire. That was a hard thing.

Losing everything I owned is one thing. I estimate it was probably $100,000 to $150,000 worth of stuff. But it was just stuff. I can get more stuff. 

But I had just killed my cats.

Let me explain something. In my opinion, when you take a pet, you accept the responsibility to provide and care for them. It is not like kids, but they are poor dumb animals that love you and you owe them the best you can reasonably do for them.

I had tried to do right by them, or thought so, but I had failed about as miserably as it is possible to do. It is hard to describe how badly I felt.

I left the island and was not allowed back on the island by city officials for 10 days. There are a lot of other things going on at this time, but I am going to stay on this story line.

After 10 days, my ex and I drove back on the island. We drove by the house, both open-mouthed this time. We spoke to a neighbor who was there cleaning up his property. Much to our surprise, he said he had seen our orange and white cat “Fat Cat”! He was feeding a number of cats on his porch as he was the only person in the neighborhood living there at the time. And Fat Cat was one of them! I am stunned.

I KNOW I “cat-proofed” the house. I shuttered the windows. I locked the people doors. And I KNOW I locked the kitty door. There is no way this cat could have gotten out. 

But we drive around the neighborhood, over to where he is feeding the cats, and my ex SEES Fat Cat! We can’t catch him, but she sees him.

Long and complex story skipped here. I set a live-trap for the cat, visit the island every day to check and re-set the trap. About 3 weeks pass and I catch 3 other cats, 2 opossums, but no Fat Cat. Finally, I set the trap and walk across the street to talk to another neighbor, who says he is pretty sure he has seen our black cat “Ashes”! I am thinking, “Wow is that possible?”, when I SEE Fat Cat across the street in the yard where the trap is. I ease over to him, calling and talking to him. After a minute, he comes to me! I put him in the truck and we go to the ex’s house, Celebrations all around!

But now I have another mission. I have to find Ashes. So I reset the trap, checking every day. No Ashes. Another cat, another opossum, no Ashes.

Another 3 weeks or so goes by, almost 2 months since the hurricane. I am wearied by these cat-trap trips, but not bowed. But I get sick for about a week. I am working 10 hour days and driving a total of about 4 hours a day, and I am just worn out.

So I miss the trips for about a week.

Last weekend the ex meets a childhood friend returned from California who is in to visit the island where her folks still live and to help them rebuild. This is 2 months after Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston Island. The ex and friend drive by the burned-out house, walk around…and there is Ashes! The ex eases over to her, calling and talking, and catches Ashes! So ex and friend box the cat up and put her in the car and she returns home. Celebrations all around!

So here is the deal. Yeah, we were hit pretty bad with the hurricane. I lose my stuff, all replaceable, but….we get back our cats.

I don’t know how they got out. Maybe the wind blew off a shutter and broke a window. Maybe I got mixed up and screwed up locking the kitty door, although I double checked it.