For those of us who really don't have a complete picture of the devastating flooding that just occurred in Louisiana, I will try and fill in some blanks.
I will attempt to get as close as I can (in some cases using "approximate" - for dates, times, etc.) and if I'm incorrect regarding some information, please, someone be kind enough to correct me.
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August 12, 2016: Heavy rain started and in twenty-four hours, approximately 36" (some reports stated 40") of rain fell in central Louisiana.
The annual rainfall (for one year) in Louisiana is 40".
The flooding that occurred is being heralded as the worse disaster since Super Storm Sandy.
The news, the pictures on television don't even come close to the biblical scenes unfolding across the central portion of this state, in the small communities who were almost flooded out of existence.
The "in your face" reality of the situation these families are facing as to the extent of damage they are now accessing and coming to grips with is off the charts.
I'm talking people who have lived here all their lives, forty, fifty years. This is where they grew up, went to school, worshiped and raised their families.
This is home.
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I am receiving first hand information from an acquaintance who happens to be one of those who just went through this ordeal, losing his home.
I'm relaying it to you.
He's lived in his home for forty years.
But now he is living in a neighbor's trailer.
He remarked to me that he is grateful for the 8x9 sink in which to shave and the small frig with a few things to eat.
The totality of the carnage is now reflected in his voice as he is wading through a mountain of government paperwork, looking at a shell of a house that was just gutted down to the stud walls, dealing with insurance adjustors and just coming to grips with a life that has been turned upside down.
He just installed a new dishwasher two weeks ago and his refrigerator is (was) two years old.
Everything's on the curb:
He's lost his car, his tools, computers, furniture, appliances, cabinetry, pictures, personal belongings.
The debris from storage buildings and homes along with the many cars and trucks that were lost--computers, lawn mowers, tools, electric wiring, siding, laptops, appliances, carpeting, linoleum, mattresses, kitchen cabinets, counter tops and furniture is lining the streets to heights of 7' or more.
Every street in this community has debris that is yet to be picked up because the state has yet to find contractors available and willing to come down and start hauling all the trash away.
Where they're going to put all this stuff is another issue entirely.
And the people who just went through this ordeal, Black and White who have lived together, next door to one another, who are neighbors, friends and family are all working side by side, helping each other.
It is hard to fathom that we have a President who could find the time and couldn't wait to transfer $400,000.000.00 to Iran, (yes, he said it was to secure the release of two or was it three American hostages but is this really true and if so, why the coverup?) in the dead of night, using a private and unmarked plane, to a country that hates our guts but couldn't even find the time, take the time or make the time to fly down in Air Force One to meet with these Americans, many of whom had just suffered through one of the worst natural disasters in Louisiana's history.
And then, Obama brought up "race" which was the most unconscionable of all.
The outrage and the outpouring of resentment by all those affected, the anger directed at Obama's remarks resonated not only through these affected communities, but throughout the nation as well.
My friend brought up the young kids who have just witnessed a catastrophe--a monumental flood that will go down in the history books, kids just eight and nine years old who got a nasty taste of reality and who will remember this event till the day they die.
To think that something horrible can't happen to us is foolish because it can and it does.
Life--how precious it is and how much we all take it for granted.
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Let's just talk Baton Rouge--of the 27,000 homes that were flooded in a small suburban community not far away, only one in eight families had flood insurance.
For these folks who were uninsured, FEMA is allowing $30,000 per family to clean up their homes if there is even anything left "to clean up."
If you did have flood insurance (approximately $357.00 a year) that doesn't mean "you're off the hook" as there are mountains of paperwork my friend is having to go through, insurance adjustors he has to meet with, requirements he has to meet and regulations, regulations, regulations.
There's no telling now whether flood insurance will even be offered again due to the massive amount of damage and whether any company will want to take the chance of insuring homeowners in an area that just might be prone to another horrific occurrence.
My friend was on the phone with me last night when I heard an alarm going off in the background.
"Oh, that's just the timer on my watch letting me know the restaurant has room for me. I can now drive there and eat my dinner (after waiting for fifty-five minutes).
After he had dinner he called back and told me the young waitress who waited on him couldn't afford to stop working to even access the damage to her home as she needed to continue to work just to make "ends" meet.
During the flooding, as things grew from bad to worse, gas stations closed, then restaurants, then grocery stores, name brand stores and discount stores, auto parts stores, apartment buildings along with shopping malls.
Emergency services were especially hardest hit with one police station losing a number of vehicles and equipment with only a handful left.
No one could go anywhere unless you had a boat.
There are two schools in this community and one is completely gone to a tune of $50,000,000.00 to replace.
The other one he is unsure of.
There is one Walmart that just reopened and they are in the process of restocking along with three restaurants, one McDonald's, a Sonic and one grocery store.
Houses are so badly damaged or non existent that no one has anything to cook on or with and there is limited gas, limited electric so the only places to go are restaurants (if they aren't damaged too severely).
The grocery store is only allowing small groups of people to come in and an allotted amount of time to shop and then they're out, allowing the next group to come in.
Trucks that normally stopped and offloaded fresh vegetables, meat, fish, produce and other goods were non-existent but are slowly starting up on their routes again.
My whole purpose in writing about this is this has made a big difference in me and how I feel about things.
It has shown me how fortunate I am to have what I have and to be grateful for each and every day.
And it shows me how much compassion we all have within us, which is always released in times such as this, in an outpouring of love for others, the best humanity has to give.
It has also demonstrated how irrelevant and useless are material possessions as once they're damaged the only thing you can do is throw them out.
But you can't throw out a human being.
They may be damaged on the outside but honestly, one of the most remarkable things about a human being is what is contained on the inside.
They come together out of love and compassion during a crisis and a togetherness that surpasses all understanding.
"Here, let me help you. We'll get through this Together. We're friends, we're neighbors, we're Family."
It doesn't matter what color nor what our political affiliations are, time and again humans have proved how resilient they are, how compassionate they are, how resolute they are and how they and not politicians are most capable of putting things in perspective.
And that perspective is, "putting others first".
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P.S. My friend says it will be at least the middle to end of next summer before he's even able to move back into his home and that all depends on whether or not the state deems he is located in a flood plain in which case the federal government will only pay 75% of the value of his home (he just lost the other 25%); he elevates his home so many feet above the ground or he just says, "screw it, I'm out of here."
And all the while he has to secure a contractor, (remember thousands of others are trying to do the same thing as well), filling out all the paperwork and waiting, waiting and more waiting.
P.S. If you haven't already hugged somebody today, don't you think now would be a good time?
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