Friday we got news that there was going to be crazy rain in Louisiana and choose to not drive to Louisiana and stay off the roads for safety. Saturday we started seeing news coverage of the flooding. We got in touch with my sister and brother but was not able to get in touch with my grandma. She is not in a flood zone and in 30 years of living in Park Forest has never even got close to flooded so we just thought she was with out power. Sunday after we had not gotten any word from Grandma, Joe took it upon him self to drive over to her house just to make sure she was ok. On the way over he was stopped before he could get into her neighborhood by the national guard. They told him that he could not get into the neighborhood. he parked his car and started the mile + walk to Grandmas. He got on a boat for a while to try to get there but then went on foot . Water at some points were chest deep but he needed to get to Grandma. By the time he got to her house there was already two feet of water in her house. She is 90 years old and lives on her own. Her house is her pride and joy. She loves that it is hers and that she can live there. She has all of her treasures that she collected over her 90 years of life in this house. After many hours at the house my brother was able to flag down a sheriffs boat and get grandma to safety. She was basically only able to leave with the wet clothes on her back.
Monday morning I packed up supplies from Home depot and grocery to drive over to baton rouge. After many re-routs i was able to get to baton rouge. Then Joe and I went to grandmas house to get important documents and lock up the house as much as possible. At this point we only had to walk through knee deep water and came with tall rain boots. The rain water had all come out of grandma's house but everything was still wet with the flood water.
Tuesday Jeremy flew into baton rouge. Joe, carrie, pat, jeremy and I all met at grandma's house. after a safety meeting the men stated on pulling out flooring and Carrie and I started on saving pictures in documents. After a long day of work the flooring was all out and many pictures were saved. Wednesday the guys started on the walls and furniture to get everything that was wet out of the house to prevent mold from growing and let the house dry out. Rebuilding can not start until everything is dry.
We are now getting bid from contractors to get the work done. Grandma came back to Texas with me and we are keeping her dry and working to buy all the things she needs to be happy. There is a long road ahead of us but we will get it all done.
grandma's house
Joe walking to grandma on sunday
cars in park forest on Sunday
Grandma's living room on Sunday
The streets on Monday
Safety first for demo tuesday
Walls and floor removed Wednesday
Hope to save pictures
demo pile after Wednesday. We still need to hire a construction crew to remove cabinets and bathroom along with prep for new dry wall and floors. A long road ahead but we are making progress.
