Our work week will primarily be with Mrs. Pat. An elderly lady, living alone, having a hard time. But, she seems to thrive with people around – she laughs, she jokes and boy, can she talk. She is short – told me once she had her picture taken with a bunch of other people and it looked like she was standing in a hole. That is why you don’t see any pictures of her. After the “hole” experience she said she never wanted to have her picture taken again.
While Gary and Shelita’s story is one of success, Mrs. Pat’s is maybe more typical. After 2 1/2 years she still is struggling, wondering what will happen next, living between her home in New Orleans and some other place (Mobile, AL in Mrs. Pats case). Construction on her house is coming along, but oh so slowly. In the picture below you see her house and her FEMA trailer out front. I never realized how small a FEMA trailer was until I was in one.
One incredible thing about Mrs. Pat though is her story – an abbreviated version follows…
The storm was coming and Miss Pat thought about leaving. But her ride out had a dog and so did Miss Pat. She knew the dogs didn’t get along and she knew other people were staying to ride out the storm. So instead of making the trip with two miserable dogs in a crowded car – she chose to stay behind.
As the storm came through, Miss Pat seemed safe enough. But, after flushing the toilet she noticed some water around the base. “It’s leaking. The storm’s causing problems with the sewer lines”, she thought. But she then noticed more water – in the hall, around the doors… there was more and more water and it was rising fast. It was too late to leave, the water was rising so fast, the levee had broken.
The second floor of her house was an apartment. Head up to higher ground was her plan. But, to get there required going outside, around to the other door and then up to higher ground. By this time the furniture was floating. She had a hard time pushing water logged furniture out of her way but she did finally make it to the door. However, she couldn’t get out – the door was blocked. Whether is was debris or the pressure of the water outside pushing in, she wasn’t sure. But she knew the water was still rising and she had no way to get to her second floor refuge.
Perplexed, scared, exhausted she made her way back through the house. She had to get above the water, she had to climb to higher ground.
Perched on her kitchen stove the water continued to rise. Finally, finally it stopped – night was falling, she had nowhere to go, no way out. Miss Pat said the hardest thing about spending the night on top of a stove with water up to her neck was staying awake. She is frail, she is old, she was exhausted.
Obviously she survived that night. However, there is the rescue, the cut foot, the helicopter ride, the ambulance, the trip to San Antoine and finally a flight to family in Mobile. Maybe I’ll tell you some other time.
