‘This is the worst storm I’ve been through’: 71-year-old Houma Resident Shares Ida Experience

Howard Pye sat outside, roof intact, while his neighbors were clearing their yards. He said Ida was the worst hurricane he’s ridden out.

Pye was 15 when he rode out Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Since then, he said he’s ridden out most storms, including Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Gustav, and Hurricane Katrina. Ida, he said, was worse and different. Unlike the others, he said Ida seemed to not have an eye, and the high winds were constant for 5-6 hours. “People claim this storm had around 140 mph winds,” he said. “I know for a fact it was much more than that.”

He said what was odd about Ida is the direction of the winds. Usually, during a hurricane, he said, the wind typically comes from one direction, but this one was different. He said it seemed to come from the north at first, but then the direction would switch, and the rains went horizontally along with it. He witnessed his neighbor’s patio roof being ripped off, taking some of the home’s roof along with it, and he said it just flew over the house, into the front yard.

He choked up when describing the nonstop experience of Ida. He said he was blessed and lucky to not have any damage simply because he did seal his roof. He also said he was so thankful for Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government for the floodgates and levee systems, “I give them kudos. I’m sure if it wasn’t for these protections, it would have flooded and been so much worse.”