Local rides out Hurricane Ida in East Houma: ‘It got pretty crazy’

Mike Guzman rode Hurricane Ida out in East Houma. He said it wasn’t too bad when it was rolling in, just a little windy, but it quickly intensified. 

“It was terrible; it got pretty crazy,” he reminisced. “When you went outside, the rain was horizontal.” He said when he went outside to check on his property, a neighbors roof flew off, and sheets of tin were rolling down the street. His house had down trees. His shed, along with belongings, was strewn across his backyard, but he said he was lucky with his overall outcome. He did lose some tin, and some belongings are strewn across his backyard, but it’s nothing like his fellow neighbors.

Guzman said since he had T-Mobile, he was able to communicate with a couple of friends Monday. He went to check on areas they are from, such as Ashland, “the destruction there is terrible,” he said. He described riding down the road and seeing a mobile home that seemed fine, but their neighbors home is completely gone. He described it as a war zone, there was debris over the roads, and he had to weave between down powerlines. He told the story of a friend who has a wife and two kids that had to ride out the storm. During the storm, something hit their window unit, tearing it out, and broke the window. He also went check on friends in Chauvin, where he said it’s just as heartbreaking there. He also had a friend whose back roof is now sitting in their front yard.

Although these residents did see damages, they have stuck together and have been helping tarp roofs and getting through these times together.