After losing four houses to four hurricanes Melanie Martinez was arguably America's unluckiest woman. There was Betsy in 1965, Juan in 1985, George in 1998 and Katrina in 2005, ferocious storms that swept in from the Gulf of Mexico and wrecked each of Martinez's homes. Such was the peril of living on a flood plain in Louisiana.

A few months ago the schoolbus driver's luck changed. Hideous Houses, a reality TV show on the A&E channel, selected her not quite hideous but admittedly ramshackle house in Braithwaite, a rural town just south of New Orleans, for a makeover. The host, Eric Stromer (one of the sexiest people alive, according to People magazine), and his team spent a week and $20,000 transforming the Martinez home with a new kitchen, new cupboards, new appliances (including a 50in smart TV), even creating a new room for Melanie's passion, sewing. It aired a few weeks ago. "They did a real good job. I loved it," says Martinez.

If you were paying attention to the news last week you know where this story is going. On Wednesday 29 August – the seventh anniversary of Katrina – a category 1 hurricane named Isaac howled in from the Gulf and hit Mississippi and Louisiana. A $14.5bn federally funded bolstering of flood-control systems around New Orleans spared the city. However, Braithwaite was sheltered only by an 8ft levee built by Louisiana's state government. Thus Martinez became – who could now argue? – America's unluckiest woman.

"There was a mandatory evacuation order and we were leaving, just like our neighbours," she says. "We never stay for storms. I would never jeopardise my mom – she's 74 and needs dialysis. But my truck broke down." Around 2am floodwaters "overtopped" the levee, sending a 12ft surge through Braithwaite. The family sought refuge in the attic. "We thought we were going to die in that house; 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."

A boat rescued them along with their five kittens and three dogs. Everything else was lost. "Now I've lost five houses to five storms. Every time a wipe-out." Martinez seems grateful to be alive, even perky, but knows tears will come once waters subside and she returns to a sodden wreck. "Why live in Louisiana?" She ponders the question. "I was born here. It's home, home, home. But we want to move somewhere that's hilly, you know? To a house on a hill."