Or maybe it was a bit of relaxation.
Chris tried to drive back to our house to remove the moldy walls. But between horrendous traffic, and what appeared to be several accidents or breakdowns, he never made it. He spent 6 hours in the car, and still had a minimum of 2 hours to go (a distance that normally would take about 30 or 40 minutes). There was a curfew and he would be expected to leave again once it started to get dark. He made the decision to turn around. Why drive 8 hours, to work for 2, and then turn around and drive back 4 or 5 hours.
He dropped his help off back in Baton Rouge and returned to the farmhouse. We just rested and napped when we could.
I'd finally had contact with my work, and with my Dad and sister. I knew that they were safe, and that everyone from my office was safe. I also knew that I would continue to be paid at least through the end of September even if we were unable to return to work. I also heard from the insurance company and they were sending us a check for displacement/loss of use on our house because of the storm and the mandatory evacuation. That was a relief.
I also started contemplating Disneyworld. I was out of work and could not go back until the parish let us back in. The kids were out of school. We had money from the insurance company to pay for a hotel and food - does it really matter if that hotel is in Florida or in Louisiana (as if anyone could find a hotel anywhere in the state of Louisiana)??? Why not take this opportunity to take the kids as we'd promised, and do it when there would be few crowds and the kids would not have to miss school.
At the same time, I think I was getting on my mom's nerves and she was getting on my nerves. We both had a tendency to snap at each other. The close quarters, the fear of what was waiting at home, the uncertainty of it all ... all took their toll on our relationship. We just needed space.
She made arrangements to go up to Arkansas, having found an apartment in the HUD apartments that are ADA compliant and fairly new, just north of the town of Lewisville, where my mom grew up. She called friends up there and things started to happen rather fast. They were lining up furniture for her. But she needed some things from her condo before she could go.
Thursday was the last day that we would be allowed back into the city for cleaning/assessing. We were told that we could come in, clean up, get what we need, and leave for probably a month. We made the decision to all go in on Thursday, and to leave the kids with my sister-in-law/brother-in-law (Gene and Blanche) who live just to the east of Baton Rouge. Then I would take mom to her condo and get her set up there, so she could go through some things and I would go to the house with Chris who would work on removing sheetrock. My job would be to pack up what we might need in the next month. We tried to get an early night's sleep, but you know how that goes. I was exhausted but worked up.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Tuesday ... another trip back into the city
Tuesday is the second day that they allowed citizens back into Jefferson Parish. Chris left early early in the morning (3 or 4 am??), and stopped in Baton Rouge to pick up a friend's son, and another guy who he hired to help him.
The wait to get in was several hours long, and the smell was still just horrible, miles before you reached the city. Chris described it as being a very strange feeling to drive through town. Once you got through the long traffic to get in at the checkpoint, there was very little activity on the streets. NO businesses were open - NONE. There were no traffic signals, and trees still blocked access to many neighborhoods and roads.
Chris and his helpers went into the house to move furniture and remove carpet that he was just not able to do on his own the day before. When he walked in, he found the mold growth to be incredible. Where there had been very little mold the day before, there was now a 1 to 2 foot high ring of mold spots around the house. Every wall had mold growing on it. So did most of the furniture. In addition to removing the carpets, he would need to remove the sheetrock from the walls, and the insulation behind it. We knew that the longer it would sit, the worse it would get.
With a son with allergies, removing the mold was a high priority. But he was not prepared to do that Tuesday - he did not have the proper tools. So, they spent the day moving furniture and removing wet moldy carpet. The plan was to return Wednesday to finish up.
After a very long day, Chris drove back to Baton Rouge to drop off his helpers, and decided to spend the night there. It was such a long drive back to where we were staying, especially to have to turn around and come back. He was getting exhausted and it showed.
Meanwhile, I was with mom at the farmhouse - with the two kids. They were getting a little stir crazy, and we were getting tired of eating fast food. I found the laundry mat, and a grocery store and cooked a full dinner Tuesday night. A bit of normal life.....
The wait to get in was several hours long, and the smell was still just horrible, miles before you reached the city. Chris described it as being a very strange feeling to drive through town. Once you got through the long traffic to get in at the checkpoint, there was very little activity on the streets. NO businesses were open - NONE. There were no traffic signals, and trees still blocked access to many neighborhoods and roads.
Chris and his helpers went into the house to move furniture and remove carpet that he was just not able to do on his own the day before. When he walked in, he found the mold growth to be incredible. Where there had been very little mold the day before, there was now a 1 to 2 foot high ring of mold spots around the house. Every wall had mold growing on it. So did most of the furniture. In addition to removing the carpets, he would need to remove the sheetrock from the walls, and the insulation behind it. We knew that the longer it would sit, the worse it would get.
With a son with allergies, removing the mold was a high priority. But he was not prepared to do that Tuesday - he did not have the proper tools. So, they spent the day moving furniture and removing wet moldy carpet. The plan was to return Wednesday to finish up.
After a very long day, Chris drove back to Baton Rouge to drop off his helpers, and decided to spend the night there. It was such a long drive back to where we were staying, especially to have to turn around and come back. He was getting exhausted and it showed.
Meanwhile, I was with mom at the farmhouse - with the two kids. They were getting a little stir crazy, and we were getting tired of eating fast food. I found the laundry mat, and a grocery store and cooked a full dinner Tuesday night. A bit of normal life.....
Monday, September 05, 2005
A peek at our house, Monday September 5.
Jefferson Parish made an announcement that they would allow residents in to view and work on their property during daylight hours Monday 9/5 through Thursday 9/8. (Jefferson is the parish where we live - and if you aren't from here and don't know, a parish is virtually the same as a county in all other 49 states). They strongly recommended against staying there, and warned that there was no food, no stores open, no water, no ice, no electricty, and that there were hazards everywhere. Downed trees and powerlines layed across virtually every street.
Chris went in without me to view the damage, and called me as he drove into our neighborhood. The conversation as he drove up and then as he walked in was scary. The streets were eerie. He had to drive under trees that were leaning 45 degrees across the street - it was a good thing he drove his Honda and not my van because he likely would not have fit. He had to circle around through the neighborhood searching for a path that would lead to our house where there were not trees down. He drove past the street leading to our neighborhood because so many things were down and out of place that he didn't recognize it.
As he walked into our house, he could see that we had flood water that had receeded. The carpets were wet, there was a grass line on the outside of the house and the sheetrock was wet.
He took lots of pictures of downed trees, fences, and of the inside of our house. He picked up a few things that we needed, tried to clean up some stuff that he could, and he left again, headed back to Opelousas to show me the pictures and to get some sleep. He was driving back in early in the morning. (This was normally a 3 to 3-1/2 hour drive, and with checkpoint traffic was taking up to 6 hours).
Chris went in without me to view the damage, and called me as he drove into our neighborhood. The conversation as he drove up and then as he walked in was scary. The streets were eerie. He had to drive under trees that were leaning 45 degrees across the street - it was a good thing he drove his Honda and not my van because he likely would not have fit. He had to circle around through the neighborhood searching for a path that would lead to our house where there were not trees down. He drove past the street leading to our neighborhood because so many things were down and out of place that he didn't recognize it.
As he walked into our house, he could see that we had flood water that had receeded. The carpets were wet, there was a grass line on the outside of the house and the sheetrock was wet.
He took lots of pictures of downed trees, fences, and of the inside of our house. He picked up a few things that we needed, tried to clean up some stuff that he could, and he left again, headed back to Opelousas to show me the pictures and to get some sleep. He was driving back in early in the morning. (This was normally a 3 to 3-1/2 hour drive, and with checkpoint traffic was taking up to 6 hours).
Saturday, September 03, 2005
The days start to blur together
The rest of the first week really starts to blur together.
We woke up Tuesday morning to reports that there had been levee breaches, and areas of the city that had been dry and only damaged by wind after the storm had passed on Monday were now flooding fast. This included areas of the city that have not flooded before. Water was starting to reach the edges of the French Quarter, and the downtown area was flooded (including around the Superdome where thousands of peopled were sheltered).
Chris's Uncle Phil, who lives in the area and takes care of the house, showed us the best place for plate lunches, how to get around town, and where to find the stores and laundry facilities. Chris made several trips to Walmart - we found ourselves with a new DVD player and some new cartoons, new blankets and linens, games for the kids, and some general things that I missed when packing (who knew we'd be gone for a whole week).
I called my insurance companies (both flood and homeowners) and started an initial claim. We had the news on 24 hours a day. Reports on our specific area were sketchy, but it looked like we may have some flooding and there was a lot of wind damage. We didn't know what to expect, but believed that filing a claim early and getting a claim number early would speed the process along once we got home to asses our damage. I wanted to get my name high up on the list. The roads were still closed and there was no report on when we might be able to get in to view the damage.
By Wednesday we'd realized that we could not live without better television. It really is a shame to say we are so dependent, but at the same time, that was the main source for new reports on our home and pictures of the area. The news showed constant helicopter flyovers - we were glued, hoping to catch a glimpse of our neighborhood. We watched as hundreds of people were rescued off of their roof by helicopters and boats. Having to watch this through snow and fuzz...while standing with one arm out, holding an antenna and some aluminum foil for the best picture ;) was frustrating at best. So, we called DirecTV on Wednesday afternoon. We were able to move our service from our house (including 2 new free receivers and a new dish) to our temporary location at no charge - and we can move it back again, up to twice within a 12 month period, again at no cost. WHEW!! Big relief, we had DirecTV service by Friday.
Our cell service was very spotty - the storm had knocked out cell towers in the 504 and 985 area codes (the biggest hit areas of Louisiana). My Dad, his fiance, my sister, and her husband had stayed in my Dad's house and were in the 985 area code. I had not talked to them since Monday morning just before the eye of the storm passed within miles of their house and I was worried. I tried calling 40 to 50 times a day. I finally talked to someone who knew someone else in the same neighborhood and heard that his neighborhood had a bunch of trees down, but for the most part had held up pretty well.
Keeping in touch with work was hard. First, my cell phone was not always working where I was, and when it was, other people's cell phones were not always working. I finally heard on the radio that text messaging was working when calling was not. I'd never sent a text message in my life, but I learned fast. I kept sending messages to everyone I could think of, and made contact with a lot of people that way. People from work were spread out through the south, but we'd heard that our building had held up well, and that the company was going to continue with direct depositing our paychecks, with plans to do so at least through the end of September even if we were not back to work by then.
We woke up Tuesday morning to reports that there had been levee breaches, and areas of the city that had been dry and only damaged by wind after the storm had passed on Monday were now flooding fast. This included areas of the city that have not flooded before. Water was starting to reach the edges of the French Quarter, and the downtown area was flooded (including around the Superdome where thousands of peopled were sheltered).
Chris's Uncle Phil, who lives in the area and takes care of the house, showed us the best place for plate lunches, how to get around town, and where to find the stores and laundry facilities. Chris made several trips to Walmart - we found ourselves with a new DVD player and some new cartoons, new blankets and linens, games for the kids, and some general things that I missed when packing (who knew we'd be gone for a whole week).
I called my insurance companies (both flood and homeowners) and started an initial claim. We had the news on 24 hours a day. Reports on our specific area were sketchy, but it looked like we may have some flooding and there was a lot of wind damage. We didn't know what to expect, but believed that filing a claim early and getting a claim number early would speed the process along once we got home to asses our damage. I wanted to get my name high up on the list. The roads were still closed and there was no report on when we might be able to get in to view the damage.
By Wednesday we'd realized that we could not live without better television. It really is a shame to say we are so dependent, but at the same time, that was the main source for new reports on our home and pictures of the area. The news showed constant helicopter flyovers - we were glued, hoping to catch a glimpse of our neighborhood. We watched as hundreds of people were rescued off of their roof by helicopters and boats. Having to watch this through snow and fuzz...while standing with one arm out, holding an antenna and some aluminum foil for the best picture ;) was frustrating at best. So, we called DirecTV on Wednesday afternoon. We were able to move our service from our house (including 2 new free receivers and a new dish) to our temporary location at no charge - and we can move it back again, up to twice within a 12 month period, again at no cost. WHEW!! Big relief, we had DirecTV service by Friday.
Our cell service was very spotty - the storm had knocked out cell towers in the 504 and 985 area codes (the biggest hit areas of Louisiana). My Dad, his fiance, my sister, and her husband had stayed in my Dad's house and were in the 985 area code. I had not talked to them since Monday morning just before the eye of the storm passed within miles of their house and I was worried. I tried calling 40 to 50 times a day. I finally talked to someone who knew someone else in the same neighborhood and heard that his neighborhood had a bunch of trees down, but for the most part had held up pretty well.
Keeping in touch with work was hard. First, my cell phone was not always working where I was, and when it was, other people's cell phones were not always working. I finally heard on the radio that text messaging was working when calling was not. I'd never sent a text message in my life, but I learned fast. I kept sending messages to everyone I could think of, and made contact with a lot of people that way. People from work were spread out through the south, but we'd heard that our building had held up well, and that the company was going to continue with direct depositing our paychecks, with plans to do so at least through the end of September even if we were not back to work by then.
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