Into the Zone
Sunday, September 4, 2005

Friends:

It's been yet another adventurous couple of days. It always seems like I'm reporting good news/bad news. First, all the good news...

Yesterday, the school that adopted us dropped off supplies. They showered us with clothing, toys for the kids, including Barbie dolls that the girls wished for. Much of the clothing was brand new, with the tags still on them. We received grocery gift cards, shoes, and my favorite item - wireless Internet! (The Internet has become our life line to the outside world and in a house with 16 people, you have to take a number to get on the only Internet line. That is why all my work is done in the wee hours of the morning.) Anyway, we were flabbergasted and, believe me, tears were gushing. We have been so overwhelmed by everyone's generosity.

The Filipino community has also been such a help. Everyone in my family received some funds to help us get through this crisis.

My brother received word that his 18 co-workers that were trapped at LSU Health Sciences Center were rescued and evacuated. Thank God! We also heard from my husband's uncle, Sherwin, who is a firefighter. He is okay, just busy rescuing people. Sherwin finally had a day off and went to see his wife and sister-in-law, who were both in a shelter in Lake Charles. Antonio's aunt, Lily Norman and her wheelchair-ound husband, Alex Norman, finally left Jefferson Parish, to stay with relatives in Marksville, Louisiana. Antonio's aunt, Donna Riley, who was treated badly in Baton Rouge, is now being helped by the Houston Police Department (she is the wife of NOPD Officer Danny Riley, who is still in New Orleans working). The HPD said that they would help her and her children find a home to live in, help enroll her children in school, and give her the assistance she so desperately needs. We have not heard from my brother's oldest son, Christian.

This morning, against our wishes- my husband, Antonio; my brother, Gary; and my stepdad, Clay - went back to the city. We live in Jefferson Parish on Westbank in Harvey. They wanted to survey the property and assess the extent of the damage. We heard so many conflicting reports. It took them nine hours to get there. Jefferson Parish is opening the parish to residents to survey the damage and salvage personal belongings for only one day, Monday, September 5. Because my brother is a police officer, he was able to get in early with his badge. He said that there is a huge line of cars on I-10, all residents waiting to get in tomorrow.

The guys first went to my mother-in-law's house. She lives in Marrero and her house fared well. Downed limbs and a few missing shingles is the extent of her damage. Her house is in tact and so was her new car except for a few scratches from the tree limbs. My husband took her car and followed Clay and Gary to my mom's house in Harvey.

Mom and Clay live in Stonebridge Subdivision, an upscale community. Clay saw one of his clients in Lake Charles earlier, who said that the neighborhood was fine. Unfortunately, that was not the case for my mom's house. Her roof caved in on the second story, and there was flooding on the first floor. Mold is growing everywhere. Trees are uprooted and we believe a hurricane-spawned tornado must have hit it. The houses on either side of my mom's house are unscathed. Clay's truck, which was parked in the driveway, was broken into. Someone tried to steal it, breaking the steering column. They also saw evidence that someone tried to break into the house, probably to loot it.

They then drove to my house. We had heard reports of widespread flooding in my neighborhood and we believed our house to be flooded. Though the house is not flooded, there is a big hole in the roof and water (from the Katrina's rains) got into the house. In addition, the water rose to the front step and seeped in the bottom of the window in my office. The carpet is wet and molding. Mold is growing in our house as well. He says the whole house smells musty. Our neighbor across the street said that his house took in a lot of water. Unfortunately, because we cannot get in to repair the damage, we may end up losing our houses anyway to mold and water damage, especially if it rains.

The sad part about all this is that we still have to pay mortgage notes on our houses. We don't know how long it will be before our insurance adjustors and FEMA can get in to assess the damage (we can't get assistance from FEMA until our house is assessed by our insurance company). My mom's mortgage company gave her a 90 day "extension" on her note but told her that she has to have it paid in full by the end of the 90 days. That's not an extension! If you can't pay one month's worth of mortgage, how can you pay three? My stepdad has a landscape company and his business is, of course, devastated by this. Like me, he also has no income. It just astounds me that we have to pay mortgage notes for houses that are situated in an unliveable area!

Jefferson Parish issued a 6 p.m. curfew and the guys decided to stay overnight so that they could salvage as much as they could from our houses in the morning. There is no power or running water so they are miserable. My brother is keeping guard outside the house, armed. Antonio and Clay are sleeping inside. My brother said that helicopters fly over the house every two minutes (they live near Naval Air Station Belle Chasse). The National Guard does have a presence on the Westbank but the majority of them are in New Orleans. Gary said that driving around is difficult because of all the debris. There are also several checkpoints because even on the Westbank, there is looting. It was hard keeping in touch with them because cell towers are down but we talked a couple of times and, for some odd reason, are able to text messages through the cell phones. I pray for their safety.

More bad news came when we found out that my mom is being transferred to Dallas indefinitely. She works for the military, managing millions of dollars worth of supplies. She is needed to help coordinate supplies due to Hurricane Katrina. This creates a hardship on the family because she is a primary caretaker of my brother's 4 kids. My brother lives with my mom and, being a police officer, often has strange hours. He has joint custody with his ex-wife but my mom and brother have the kids more often. In fact, she didn't want to evacuate with the kids and left them with my brother. My mom picks up the kids from school, feeds them, bathes them, etc. They are 3, 4, 6, and 7 years old.

My brother's kids are enrolled in school here in Houston. There is a possibility that brother may be called back to work in Baton Rouge. If so, I will be taking care of my own two children plus my brother's four kids (and they are a handful!). My mother said that she will come home on weekends but I will have to get them through the school week. We have 6 kids going to three different schools. The elementary school is in our neighborhood but it is too far for these little ones to walk so we have to drive them. Soleil's high school is 20 minutes away. The baby (who is 3) will be in day care. It's going to be a challenge to coordinate!

My husband was informed that he will be paid for the next 30 days but after that, it is uncertain. In the meantime, it looks like I will have to look for at least part-time work to put food on the table and pay bills and so that I can still build my storytelling business again. We are committed to staying in Houston at least a year because of the kids and school. I don't want to uproot them in the middle of the year (there is so much upheaval in their lives right now).

I hate the uncertaintly of everything. Our lives are in limbo. I am scared but still clinging to optimism, hope, and my faith in God that all will work out in the end.

Until next time...