Ike victims experience new tragedy

Their storm damaged home near the coast went up in flames. It caught fire Saturday night off Forest and East Bayou in the city of Shoreacres.

Shoreacres was hit hard by Hurricane Ike. The debris is still piled up on the streets nearly four months after the storm, many residents are living in trailers. It all makes what happened overnight even more difficult to take.

"The Shoreacres police department was patrolling the area and saw flames coming from the second floor of the residence," said Gustavo Lopez with the Harris County Fire Marshall's Office.

At first neighbors thought the homeowners were inside the burning structure. The family had been living on the second floor while remodeling the first.

"According to them, if the vehicle is here, then he is here," Lopez told us. "At first we were having trouble getting a hold of him and his wife, but eventually during the investigation they came up."

The fire is just the latest thing to happen to this home and this neighborhood. During Hurricane Ike there was two feet of water inside this house, now the rest of it is gone too.

No one knows why the fire started, but a nearby resident says he has been warned about fires that can be linked to Ike.

"Our electrician said that might happen to homes here due to the corrosion in the outlets," said neighbor Jim Hopp. "It is a shame, it is tragedy. We have been through a lot and apparently we are still going through more."

The exact cause of the fire is under investigation.