We used to live about 75 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and never saw any real damage from hurricanes or tropical storms, although several hit the area while we lived there. Now we're in Ohio, and we got hit pretty hard by what was left of Hurricane Ike yesterday! Unlike most people in the area, we never lost power. However, a line went down in our neighbor's yard yesterday afternoon and the sparks from it caught a tree in our back yard on fire. At first it was just smoldering, but shortly after I took this picture it burst into flames and spread quickly. With the wind gusting up to 75 mph, it spread fast and I was getting ready to grab the kids and the pets and head out about the time the fire truck showed up to take care of it. They got the fire put out quickly, but it was a little scary for a few minutes. Schools and most businesses were closed here today since so many places were without power. We ran to Kroger to grab a few groceries this morning and it was crazy in there! Lots of the people were looking for flashlights, batteries, water, and ice. They're saying it may be a week or more before they can get power back on for everyone in the area.