Footy great Nick Riewoldt reveals he and his young family were caught up in cyclone so intense it was like ‘armageddon’
- Nick Riewoldt has shared how he was affected by Hurricane Beryl
- The football legend lives with his family in Houston, Texas
- He described the cyclone as ‘armageddon’
Nick Riewoldt said he felt like he was in a horror movie after being hit by Hurricane Beryl.
The 41-year-old football legend, who lives in Texas with his wife Catherine and their young family of three boys, relived the moment the devastating cyclone hit Houston this week.
“Bloody Beryl, it’s Armageddon beyond,” Riewoldt said on his podcast, Footy Talk.
“It’s about 2am, I heard it coming through. I honestly thought the whole house was shaking. I’ve never been through a hurricane before.
“A lot of people are pretty casual about it, because Houston has been hit by Katrina and Ike for years. It was pretty intense.”
Riewoldt said the only casualties in his home were the garden furniture he forgot to bring inside, and his family was safe from the harsh weather.
“The fence is down and there are branches everywhere, a lot of trees are down and there is no power. It’s really terrible…” he said.
“I think I tried to turn on 14 light switches… it’s amazing how stupid you can be. A lot of people have generators, so I’m at a friend’s house who has a generator.
Nick Riewoldt has opened up about witnessing a hurricane up close in his new home
Hurricane Beryl tore through Riewoldt’s new hometown of Houston, Texas this week
Fortunately, the football legend and his young family were safe from the cyclone
“(My son) Will had a sleepover, which probably wasn’t the most responsible thing to do, Teddy was fine and James is gone, he’s in Arkansas. Teddy was holding down the fort.”
Riewoldt has had some unusual experiences since leaving Australia for the United States. In April, the 41-year-old revealed how he nearly hit a snake.
“I learned a valuable lesson about ranch life, and that is that it’s not like the beach. You always have to have a pair of boots on,” he said.
‘I went out to get a piece of wood to throw on the fire, it was dark outside. As a rancher, I felt pretty confident in my surroundings.
“I walked outside and I was looking for the light switch. I was walking along this wall and I looked down and I had stepped on something. I couldn’t figure out what it was until it started going tsk tsk tsk… it was a bloody rattlesnake.
“I stepped on it with my bare foot. Somehow it didn’t go off and it just slid off. I completely lost it. I don’t think I’ve ever shit my pants so hard in my life. I was terrified. It was a close call.”