Author's Note: Dispatches From Disaster will be Sean West's posts from New Orleans. All comments will be routed to him through Greg Kato.
For those of us who still read newspaper stories about Katrina victims (many begin to block out catastrophes after a measured level of mourning), there a few common themes: Looting, unemployment, insurance hassles, FEMA ineptitude, destroyed lives and feeling of helplessness. It adds texture to have one of these individuals in front of you telling the story.
Enter Eddie: A tall African-American in jeans, a plaid shirt, and a forlorn smile.
"See the front of this house--I bought 23 years ago. I had a plan from when I was really young--I would save. I wouldn't spend money on expensive things or drugs or any of that, but I'd save so that I could have a house for my family. So my wife and I moved in here in a decent and sought-after neighborhood and we paid it off--one of us spending their check on the bills and the other saving. We had three kids so I built a two-story extension to the house. We never wanted for anything--we had everything we could have ever wanted."
Enter Katrina: A massive hurricane with no regard for income, race, or moral standing; a storm that would eat anything in its path.
"The water was up to about two inches below the roof. Everything downstairs was destroyed. So we were staying in Baton Rouge after the hurricane, and came back briefly to survey the house--fortunately the upstairs wasn't damaged."
Enter looters: A faceless unknowable evil.
"We came back a second time though and upstairs was tore apart. Looters had stolen my son's clothes! What kind of person would do that during a tragedy? What kind of person would that make you? Some stuff was left but some was missing."
Enter the insurance company: Court of first resort after tragedy.
"I am sure we had the contents of this house insured for $100,000. I had $40,000 worth of public address system equipment for the city to rent whenever there were picnics or banquets. We put in to the insurance company for the claim and they said we only had $50,000. I remember doubling our coverage. The trouble is that I have no paperwork to prove anything, so I'm stuck with what they say."
Enter the city government: Former employer and awkward emergency handler.
"So I was staying with my wife and kids in Baton Rouge until was safe to come back to the city. But when I got back, the city said I was away for too long and laid me off. Can you believe it? I was two years away from retirement and they laid me off because I was away. I didn't want to be in Baton Rouge--when you go there and you're from New Orleans, there's some sort of hate. But they said I came back too late."
Enter FEMA: Emergency and inefficiency specialist.
"We put in for a trailer back in September to put in our yard so we could live there until the house was fixed up. It's the end of March. I was told that one contractor was handling it and he told me another was handling it and everyone else in my neighborhood put in after me and got a trailer. Now they're saying I can't have a big size trailer because of the road size--now I need to put two of them in the yard. I hope they hurry up though--the place I'm living in now I wouldn't let my dog live in. I have to put down the stove and put a fan on it to circulate the air. And they're charging $600 a month!"
Enter faith: What one does have left when one thinks they have little left.
"For now I'm putting into the city to get a permit to rebuild. I've put into the SBA for a loan--can you imagine that I've paid off my house and now I have to take another loan to rebuild it? But I gotta do it. Come back in two years and you'll have a place to stay--my wife makes the best gumbo in the world. Give me one days notice and she'll make it for you."
Exit volunteer workers: A bright eyed-brigade of do-gooders.
We spent a day gutting the house and cleaning out anything that needed to go before the house could qualify to be rebuilt. We tore down ceilings, ripped out walls, and moved waterlogged possessions. We talked with Eddie and ate crayfish on the lawn. But the house was as clean as it would be and the work-day was over. We said goodbye, enjoying what we accomplished with a days work, but knowing that it was only one of 50 time-consuming pieces that need to go right before Eddie gets his life back to how it was before the disaster. Could we have done more? His was only one of 40 damaged houses on the block. Tomorrow we'll be off to another site and another story--but Eddie and the rest of the Katrina victims are stuck with this reality.
