On Saturday, we were assigned work on a two-bedroom condominium in Metairie located just North of I-10.   It was in an apartment building that had been converted into condominiums.  It was owned by an approximately 60-year-old woman.   A friend of the woman led us from the St. Matthew's UMC to the residence.    We learned that the woman who owed the unit did not evacuate prior to the hurricane.    As the water began to rise in her home, she fled to a neighbor's second story unit.  A photo below shows a homemade raft she built during the storm.  

Other residents we met shared that the storm was terrifying, but the days after the hurricane also were filled with challenges.   They said they members of the community had to wade through chest deep water to reach a store where they could get basic supplies.   They said that the police allowed them to break into a store and take items like food and water.  A resident reported that many persons in the community united to support each other.  However, a few residents panicked and took an "every-man for himself attitude."   For example, some residents shot guns in the area to intimidate others.   Some residents fought over the use of pool water to flush toilets despite the abundance of this kind of water.   She said that this behavior incited great fear in many of the elderly residents of the complex.

Our task at the 2 bedroom condominium unit was to remove any items of value that could be saved and to remove mold from the walls and floor.  This required removing the wet carpeting, carpet pads, and wood carpet tack boards.  We had to take out all the sheetrock up to 4 feet high and spray the wood studs walls with bleach.  We also had to remove cabinets and built-in shelving that was below the 4 foot mark. 

The home was packed with furniture and items collected during a lifetime.  We learned that the resident had returned once and was quickly overwhelmed by the physical and emotional weight of the task we were doing.  Many of our team members later shared that they felt the same way when we started the work that morning.  Yet, within a few hours there was a sense that we were making progress.  After we filled three large dumpsters with discarded items, we dumped at least that much more trash on the ground next to the dumpsters.  By the end of the day, we had completed our work leaving only some areas in the kitchen and bathrooms that required the intervention of a plumber.  One of our team members even had the opportunity to put his new chainsaw to work clearing a tree from the front door of another residence and beginning the process of removing a very large tree from a courtyard.

As the team talked later that evening, some shared about how the friend of this woman was experiencing great loss.  Her home had only minor damage, but the storm had a lasting impact on her life.  In the aftermath of the storms, her mother and two of her closest friends had chosen to move to other cities.  She still had her church and her job, but it was unclear how the massive loss in population would change both her church and job.

Sunday

Early on Sunday, our group had its own worship service in the Sanctuary of St. Matthew’s UMC.  Then, we loaded in one vehicle to take the short drive east into the heart of New Orleans.  We witnessed colossal destruction.  It was not that any one sight was particularly shocking.  Yet, the sheer volume of the destruction was very disturbing.  The only area where there seemed to be buildings that were salvageable was around the French Quarter.  Yet, we saw many buildings in ruins there and some odd sights like boats on dry ground tied to structures.

Later that morning, we began working on a couple’s home in Kenner.  They had evacuated prior to Katrina striking the area.  They returned to their home after a few weeks to find it seriously damaged and the destruction of most of their belonging.  Based on news reports they expected their home to be significantly impacted.  Therefore, they purchased a camping trailer in Houston prior to their return so they would have a place to live while they worked on the home.

These relatively young adults had serious health problems prior to the hurricanes.  They had experience disabling work-related injuries.  The exposure to the mold while sorting through belongings was severely taxing the wife's already compromised immune system.  She reported that there had been many days when she did not have the strength to arise from bed.  She continued to cough a lot despite medical attention that included a round of antibiotics.

As we removed damaged flooring and sheetrock from the home, they both gave their all to assist us.  They were thankful that we were helping, yet it was obviously an very emotional experience to watch persons tear the walls of their home apart.  They had just invested a lot of energy remodeling through home, doing most of the work themselves.  By the end of the day, we had completed our work on the home.  A large mound of trash filled most of their front yard.

Removing floor damaged by water and mold.

Taking a lunch breach.

Celebrating carrying in the last panel of sheetrock

Group photo with the home owners at the end of the day. (Bill D. Ball, Jr. not pictured)

At both work sites, we handed out relief supplies like health kits, flood buckets, and soap to other families in the area.  The team took donated building materials like 28 panels of sheetrock and gallons of bleach.

Our team put everything we had into our work.  We worked like a team that had spent months together.  We felt great about what we had accomplished. 

Trip Summary by  Bill D. Ball, Jr.