Todd: So Ivan, in America, in California we have earthquakes. Do you have any natural disasters in Houston?

 

Ivan: Uh, it floods a lot and we get hurricanes. Houston's called a bayou city. Bayou is kind of like a dirty river. Sometimes it rains a lot, that thing fills up over, and the next thing you know you got water in your house. Hurricanes are really, really angry typhoons I think. The first hurricane I ever remember we name our hurricanes, you give them names, usually girl names, and the first hurricane I remember was back in 1984 named "Hurricane Alice" I believe. Um, I was in a soccer camp. It starts raining, oh my God it's raining, trees are falling down and cars are kind of being pushed away from the water and stuff and I'm scared to death that my parents are dead right. I was only seven years old. So I remember, I couldn't remember my phone number and the camp counselors were trying to look it up. Call up: ring, ring, ring. My mom answers the phone, "Are you OK? Are you OK?" "Yes, Ivan, we're OK. Don't worry about it. It's just a rain storm." But it was an absolute mess. The next day, the soccer field is completely wiped out. It was, yeah, they're big angry storms.

 

Todd: How long does a hurricane usually last?

 

Ivan: Usually, about two or three days.

 

Todd: Oh, really

 

Ivan: Yeah, they just kind of stay in Houston. They like Houston. Something about the weather pattern. They just float to Houston and stay there.

 

Todd: Man, that's pretty intense. So afterward everything is just kind of wiped out.

 

Ivan: Ah, a lot of windows are broken. I said a lot of cars are upside down sometimes, cause the wind is really, really high, plus you got the water that floats the cars, but it's fun when it stops cause the streets are flooded 

and you can go swimming.

 

Todd: You swim in the water?

 

Ivan: Sure. Sure. It's just rain water.