AS THE third-generation to own my family's insurance agency, I've lived in hurricane country since birth and have placed wind and flood risks for nearly as long. I used to believe I was a hurricane expert. Last fall, Hurricane Rita taught me otherwise.

Before Rita hit in September 2005, my most recent hurricane encounter was with Andrew, 13 years earlier. Our agency hunkered down and headed out while Andrew, a Category 4 hurricane, the second-most deadly of storms, stewed at sea after devastating Southern Florida. By the time he made landfall in Texas, however, Andrew's windy fury, initially clocked at excesses of 130 mph, had dwindled to speeds in the low hundreds. Andrew, which had become a Category 3 storm, struck the Gulf Coast on August 26, 1992; we were back to business as usual the next day.

After Andrew, our agency developed disaster plans, which we used to prepare for Rita. These procedures are the brainchild of our disaster planning committee. Five years ago, the heads of our three departments chose the committee members, which include an accountant; a life and health representative; two commercial-lines representatives; two personal-lines representatives; Marilyn, our systems coordinator; and E. Jay Sherlock, one of our agency's four principals. The committee prepared for the most severe disaster we considered likely: a Category 2 hurricane. Hurricanes greater than Category 2, they knew, have been rare in the Gulf Coast.