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 This is my friend Carl. We were next door neighbors and became best friends when he lived in Maryland. He moved back to New Orleans some years ago, but we never lost touch calling and visiting back and forth regularly. He invited me to come down and spend some time with him in his FEMA trailer and this is the story of what I found.
Background: When I heard Hurricane Katrina was going to hit New Orleans I immediately called him to be sure that he and his family were leaving and would be safe, but I could not reach him. I prayed and worried about them for many hours and finally I got a call from Carl telling me that he had evacuated and had been driving all day and all night and they were at a rest area in Texas and trying to find a place to stay. It was Carl, his wife Jeanette and Jeanette’s 93 year old aunt.
So started the journey that would keep Carl and his family not homeless, but without a home for no-one-knows how long. I hope by telling their story it will give people a realization of how difficult life continues to be for the people of New Orleans who lost everything. They have, no keepsakes to remember their past, a present that not a life, but just an existence and a future that is uncertain.
When Katrina hit Carl and his wife had a solid upper middle class life. They had both just retired and were looking forward to a wonderful future. They had planned well and were now to reap the benefits of their years of work. They lived in East New Orleans which was flooded very early and the water stood over four feet high inside their single level home. What was not destroyed by being submerged was ruined by being enclosed in a water filled house for weeks. Furniture, clothes, pictures, electronics, tools, everything was ruined. When they could return they arrived to find a water soaked house with everything they left behind rotting and smelling of mold and foul water. You can try to imagine how you would feel if it were your house, but I don’t think any of us really can. more...
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