Beyond the Storm

Day 5 – April 5th, 2006

Slept OK despite the coyote and dog banter last night. Not sure who won the shouting match but it was interesting being in the middle of it. Temperature was a bit cool but our hosts had plenty of blankets for extra warmth.

The weather today started a bit cool but heated up nicely. Clear sky all day. So far we have had great weather – no rain, cool evenings and temperatures in the 80’s during the day!

The team split in 2 with one group (Dave E., Dave B., Ken, Cherri & Laura) going back to Dot’s to work on laying the flooring, finishing up the plumbing and finish installing the kitchen cabinets. The other group (Pastor Karl, Tim, Barb & Ellen) went to Bonnie Davis’ house a few minutes from Camp Hope to do “rip out” work. Rip-out is the 2nd step in cleaning out a home. First is mucking out a home of the debris and muck. Then ripping out a home is just as it sounds - ripping out drywall, cabinets, tubs, sinks, insulation, and any other materials that would have mold due to the flooding. After that is completed, a crew comes in to thoroughly clean and chemically treat what is remaining for mold. The last step in the process is what we have been doing at Dot’s house – rebuilding, readying the home to habitable again.

Bonnie’s story is quite a bit different than Dot’s. A single woman, Bonnie has mental and emotional disabilities. She lived in hotel rooms for 3 months after the storm but now has a FEMA trailer parked on her front lawn where she stays with her 4 dogs. When we met her, she had just gotten out of the hospital. Bonnie’s home had a storm surge of 3-4 feet (same amount that Lamb of God Church down the street had) so we had to rip out at least 4 feet of drywall & nails, tubs, toilets, kitchen cabinets, all appliances, etc.

When the team initially showed up at Bonnie’s to assess the damage and see what tools we would need, it was like a might force surrounding Bonnie. She said that it was like being interviewed by Home Makeover. Pastor Karl remarked, “…except without Ty Pennington.”

Bonnie told us that after they were allowed back in to the area, she was approached by a couple of people who needed temporary housing and asked to stay in her home even though it was covered in muck. Since Bonnie has a very kind heart and it was quite cold, she agreed. Unfortunately, they turned out to be drug addicts. They later claimed, when Bonnie and the sheriff tried to get them out, that they were leasing the property even though they were not paying rent. Here in Louisiana it seems that gave them squatter’s rights and Bonnie was unable to evict them. She finally had to turn off the electricity to force them out. Angered, they stole almost everything that she owned while Bonnie’s neighbors looked on.

By the end of the day, Dot’s home had ½ of laminate flooring in the master bedroom and ¾ in the livingroom and installation was complete of the bathroom cabinet & sinks and kitchen cabinets.

At Bonnie’s home, we had most of the drywall cut out in all rooms but the garage. What was once a clean front lawn now had 5 feet high, 5 feet wide and 18 feet long of debris piled waiting for pick-up.

Mid-way through the afternoon, we learned that we had been invited by Dot’s church, Lamb of God Lutheran Church, for a Lenten meal and for Lenten service afterward. The food was amazing with pasta salad with shrimp, shrimp and crawdad gumbo (Barb thought of it more as a stew). When we asked for the gumbo recipe, one of the ladies said that it would cost us. “What’s your price?” we asked. “Just cleaning up of 160 chairs in the church that had storm damage,” we were told. They were using any asset to help with the clean-up efforts.

Pastor Stefan Wismar lead us and his congregation in Lenten worship. Afterwards we spent time talking with the member and further enjoying their fellowship.