worried she had lost everything . When she saw her house was standing , she rushed inside , grabbed a statue of Jesus and said : `` Thank you , God . '' Read KHOU 's report on going back to Galveston Crystal Beach , Texas Frank and Dee Ann Sherman huddled in the attic of their beachfront home in Crystal Beach as Hurricane Ike ripped the house apart -- washing walls out to sea and lifting up what remained only to smash it down , KHOU said . Watch the Shermans tell their amazing survival story '' Somehow the roof stayed on and they survived , but they are not being allowed back into the ruins , not even to retrieve the ashes of their dead daughter . The couple said they were frustrated with complaints by people better off than them . `` We see all of these people that are crying and moaning because they got some mud on their floor or their lights are out in Houston , '' Frank Sherman told KHOU . `` We do n't see anything about our friends that died in Crystal Beach and about the fact that our world is
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's been five days since Hurricane Ike smashed into the Texas coast , but people are still struggling mightily with its effects . Flags of the United States and Texas fly where homes stood in Gilchrist , Texas , before Ike 's wrath came ashore . From the destroyed coastline , to far inland where evacuees are seeking shelter , to communities in the Midwest where the storm dumped flooding rains , CNN 's affiliates are reporting on the rebuilding of lives . Galveston , Texas Wrecked homes and possessions strewn around the ubiquitous sludge were the sights awaiting residents of Galveston , some of whom were allowed to check their property on Wednesday , KHOU reported . Paula Munoz said although the damage to the family 's El Rey restaurant was worse than she could have imagined , they still planned to rebuild . `` We spent 10 years paying off this place , '' she told KHOU . `` We 'll rebuild , and we 'll do it here . Where else would we go ? This is our life . '' But there was some relief for Maria Patina , who was