Monday, February 27, 2006

Someone's Home

I went with lb0313's friend Wendy to her home to pick up a few things. They live very close to a breach in the London Avenue Canal. To look from the outside of these homes it may not look that bad but wait til you get inside. It's utter ruin. The walls and ceilings are worthless. Everything must be gutted out. Possessions left in the home were destroyed. Clothing just falls apart when you touch it. Dirt and dried mud are everywhere. You can see the water lines on walls and windows. You can not live in these homes. There are a number of FEMA trailers in front of homes but not so for most. I ask where are the rest of these people? They say they just don't know. There is much not known here.

Wendy and her husband have purchased a new home. They are not able to live in it yet though.... electricity issues. They paid off their mortgage with their insurance settlement. But many haven't received such settlements. Also they bought the home some 15 years ago. People who purchased homes more recently at much higher prices would never be able to pay off their mortgages from the insurance settlements I am told.

Wendy and her husband don't know exactly what they'll do with the home. For starters it would need to be raised yet they aren't sure exactly how high as the flood maps are not completed. For now they'll sit on it. But one can tell just returning here for a few minutes is hard on Wendy.

Meanwhile Wendy's 13 year old son who has been in Memphis with relatives so he can attend school just arrived for Mardi Gras. Remember there were no schools open at the beginning of the school year so many people have sent their kids off to other parts so they will not fall behind.

People here are in limbo. They are waiting...for insurance settlements, for flood maps, for the city plan, for jobs to return. There is so much uncertainty.

Here is a video tour of Wendy's home......

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Go Scout! May this be the start of something valuable for the people of New Orleans, and for you, dear scout prime.


- mena

8:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Scout -

Wow. NOLA is half Ghost Town from the images I saw. Even Kenner has plenty of blue tarp roofs - some from Katrina and some from the recent tornado, no doubt...

Offer still stands - I would be honored if you could come on-air when you get back to talk about your observations (and maybe we could also have lb0313 on by phone).

Thanks for the posts - even if the images are more grim than I had hoped.

10:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scout, you and lb0313 have excelled yourselves. I think you've put more of a human face and an eye-level scale on this whole situation than most of the TV reporting so far. Keep it up!

(PS. What is the URL on the back of the white 'I (fleur-de-lys) NOLA' T-shirt?)

10:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Scout,
Go get em!

8:04 AM  

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