A former Madison couple who survived a horrific bus fire 10 years ago have lost their home to the hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas, this month.

Eric Nelson said he and his wife, Heather Gallagher-Nelson, and their son, Dylan, 3, escaped the island unharmed but have learned that their 95-year-old Victorian house in the city's historic district was likely damaged beyond repair.

More than four feet of water flooded the home's first-floor living quarters, Nelson said. Part of the roof is torn off, and looters apparently entered through an upstairs window, he said.

"We're all safe, thank God, so in that regard, we count ourselves lucky," said Nelson, 40, a stay-at-home dad. "We joke that no one is ever going to insure us for anything again."

Nelson and his wife were severely injured in 1998 when a mentally ill man poured gasoline on them on a Madison Metro bus and lit a match. Nelson was burned on more than 97 percent of his body, and Heather was burned on more than 87 percent of hers. The couple moved to Galveston in 2001, in part because their injuries made it painful to endure cold weather.

"In some ways, this is worse than the bus fire," Nelson said. "With that, there was something we could do -- we could work on our rehabilitation. Here, we are completely and totally in the hands of others."

The family is awaiting word from insurers. Gallagher-Nelson has not been able to return to her job in the cytopathology lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, although she is still being paid. The family is staying with Gallagher-Nelson's mother south of Houston.

-- Doug Erickson

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