Interesting that it's of such importance to some to assign the right category to the storm. My house has stood through minimal hurricanes and strong tropical storms for many years -- a busy day clearing branches and debris, maybe some minor patching, and we were fine. In Katrina, I lost the four remaining trees, including one on my house, had parts of the house simply blown away, a deck dismantled as if by a giant hand. The house was actually blown off its piers -- all before the water. So don't try to tell me this was a category 1 storm until you take a tour of what is left of my house.