Ike at his worst!!

Found this on the net..

September 14, 2008
Too late for a rescue, family ties itself together to weather Ike

At the height of the storm, 21-year-old Ronnie Rodriguez got a rope and tied himself to his mother and grandfather. If the house toppled into the water, at least they wouldn't lose each other in the pitch-black chaos. At least they'd be together.

Rodriguez's girlfriend, two sisters and father evacuated and begged him to go too, but he wanted to stay behind to look after his mother and grandfather.

His grandfather, a retired carpenter and painter, had lived in his house on 9 Mile Road since 1947. His mother, a 45-year-old employee of the BP plant, grew up there. The two-story building had never flooded and his grandfather was convinced it never would.

``He was the one who inspired us to stay,'' Rodriguez said. ``But later you could see the look on his face. He was getting nervous because the water was already two or three feet deep and the storm wasn't even here yet.''

At 9 p.m., they called 911, but no more rescues were authorized until after the storm passed. Conditions were too dangerous, the dispatcher said. ``They said there was literally nothing they could do.''

The family called 911 again as the eye passed over about 1 or 2 a.m. to see if someone could help them during the calm, but no luck. ``We were just stuck. Nothing we could do about it,'' he said.

At about 2:30 or 3 a.m., the water rose four feet in less than 30 minutes. ``We just thought it was going to just rise more and more and that's when we started thinking it was going to be a life or death situation.''

After tying himself to his relatives with the rope, Rodriguez got an axe and prepared himself to climb into the attic and bust their way out if the water got too high.

``My guts were all twisted man, I was freaking out,'' he remembered.

The water stopped rising just short of the house's second story. When he looked out the window in the morning, everything he could see was submerged.

``It was like we were on a lake,'' he said Sunday as he waited on FM 3005 for the National Guard to give him a ride out of the West End. He wanted to get some supplies for his family and return as soon as possible.

``Everything we own is pretty much trash, but at least we're alive,'' he said. ``I'm never going to stay for another Hurricane even if it's a Category 1, I don't care, I'm not staying.''

-- Lindsay Wise