Hurricane Rita has passed over the coast of Texas and into the heartland with less severity than predicted.
Melinda Gwin spent a harrowing three days as she watched the storm head for her childhood home of Houston.
"This has affected me totally different than Hurricane Katrina because it's my childhood - it's my roots," said Gwin.
For hours Thursday, Gwin watched as Hurricane Rita spread across the Gulf of Mexico toward Houston. She finally fell asleep at 4 a.m.
It has been 55 years since she has seen the oil rigs dotting the Houston landscape, or smelled the sea at Galveston. But the little girl inside her cried out in terror.
Friday afternoon, Rita weakened to a category four, but continued its relentless path.
"Oh God, I just wish it would go further west," she said desperately.
More than 100 years ago this month, one of the most powerful hurricanes in U.S. history claimed the lives of thousands in Galveston. The enormous size of Hurricane Rita threatens a similar fate.
Saturday morning dawned overcast and windy in Greenwood. In Galveston and Houston, high winds had robbed those cities of power and had strewn debris across the streets.
But the damage could have been much worse.
"I'm just sad about the damage it has done everywhere," Gwin said.
The retired teacher thinks often about the effects hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had on America.
"There will certainly be a consideration for building back. But I think it's important to consider how you're going to build back," she said.
She wonders if a callous attitude towards the environment has finally taken a toll.
Gwin considers evidence that global warming has led to warmer waters and hence stronger hurricanes.
Reclaiming precious marshlands and preserving the natural landscape could serve as a deterrent from future storms, according to Gwin.
"I think the Mississippi coast and the Texas coast are going to have to look at the future in a different way," she said.
Maybe getting back to the basics isn't so bad after all.
"No man is an island. No matter where you live, the storm will affect you in some way," Gwin said.
