Is this the unluckiest woman in America? Louisiana resident loses her FIFTH home to hurricanes



Melanie Martinez is being dubbed the unluckiest woman in America after five of her homes have been wiped out by hurricanes.



Learning from past experience, Martinez knew better than to risk sticking out the storm and began preparing to flee from her Braithwaite, Louisiana home with her husband and elderly mother as soon as Hurricane Isaac started smashing through the town on August 29.



But when Martinez’s truck broke down, the trio were left with no option but to race to the attic and hope for the best.



Unluckiest woman in the U.S.? Melanie Martinez had her Louisiana home destroyed by hurricane Isaac last week; it is her fifth home in 50 years to be wiped out by a hurricane



Salvaging: Melanie Martinez desperately salvages items from her flooded home in Braithwaite, Louisiana; she believed her and her family were going to die when they became trapped in the home as the hurricane hit

The family, including Martinez’s 74-year-old mother who relies on dialysis, five kittens and three dogs, were stranded in the attic as the category 1 hurricane pummelled their home.

Braithwaite, a town south of New Orleans, was sheltered from the hurricane with an 8ft levee but, around 2am, floodwater surged over the barrier and a 12ft wave hit the town.



'We thought we were going to die in that house,' Martinez told the Guardian . 'The water was coming up so fast. My husband used a hammer to put a hole in the roof but it broke. We used our hands and feet to punch the hole.'



Thankfully, a brave neighbour broke into the house and was able to rescue the three victims, according to a Getty photographer.

Distraught: The home was destroyed after it underwent a $20,000 makeover thanks to a reality TV programme, Hideous Houses

Clean-up operation: Martinez and a family member pull a boat they will use to salvage supplies

Lucky to escape with their lives, the family were left to face the all too familiar wreckage as Isaac totally destroyed their home.



In a further blow, Martinez’s house had just received a $20,000 make-over thanks to Hideous Houses, a reality TV programme on A&E.



Martinez's fifth home to be destroyed was wiped out on August 29 - the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Once again, Martinez and her family lost all of their possessions. Currently, six Martinez family members are holed up in a one-bedroom apartment.

Frightening: Martinez attempt to flee the home with her husband and elderly mother was thwarted when her truck broke down; the trio were forced to seek refuge in the home's attic

Martinez, a life-long Louisiana resident and school bus driver, has lost four other homes in the last 50 years to Hurricanes: Betsy in 1965, Juan twenty years later in 1985, George in 1998 and Katrina in 2005.



Following her latest home heart-break, Martinez says she is determined to move to a property on a hill.



But despite everything, she is planning on staying in Louisiana because it is 'home.'