Jared Bourg
Bourg, Louisiana Stayed What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? The lack of utilities was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be, but I think that coming to terms with the fact that my childhood home where I grew up for the past 20 years is no longer livable has been the biggest change. If I had to say there was the biggest change, that was it. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? I would probably say the house. Listen
Divine Martin
Houma, Louisiana Evacuated to Monroe, Louisiana What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? The hardest part is seeing your community devastated past recognition and wondering how long it will be until everything is “normal” again. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? The biggest loss, I would have to say, is since my family and I were forced to vacate the premises of our home and move out of state due to damages caused by Ida, we can’t be around family and friends like how we would like to during these trying times. Listen
Dex Duet
Golden Meadow, Louisiana Evacuated to Welsh, Louisiana What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? I think the biggest loss is not just physical homes but the feeling of safety and security. We face a lot during our day to day and a huge part of the relief of that is being able to come home to decompress. Without a sense of home these people can’t feel safe or comfortable, and that’s heartbreaking. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? Watching my mom go through this and not being able to do much about it. My mom lost everything during this storm. She is homeless and living from family member to family member. I wish I could get her to a place where she is settled, but that is almost impossible right now. It’s having so much to do but all you really can do is wait. Listen
Mikaela Chiasson-Knight
Houma, Louisiana Evacuated to Austin, Texas, with 4 pets. “It was a mess.” What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? I think the hardest part for me was just seeing my hometown in complete chaos and wreckage… I’ll never forget driving back from Texas and seeing all of the destruction, the place I grew up wasn’t even recognizable. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? I honestly don’t think I could even make a loss that was bigger than the next. Obviously some people lost more than others, but I think the biggest loss and impact is the fact that nearly everyone lost something. Listen
Keyja Washington
Thibodaux, Louisiana Stayed with Family What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? During the storm, I wasn’t sure if we were going to die. We heard the whistling of the wind, our windows were uncovered, and there were constant reports of damages. My younger siblings kept asking if we would die and I couldn’t give them a concrete answer. I just couldn’t. The hardest thing after the storm was losing power and internet. Just the world we live in, it’s hard to be so dependent on technology and electricity and not have it. It was hard to find out things going on. We had to use a radio. We also were struggling with our generator going in and out. It was also hard because I was in a house with a lot of people and we were all hot, bored, and miserable. It was hard to get what we needed. Just hard dealing with losing our house completely. And the rain after was so bad and it was hard to get help for that and to get people to come help with those damages. It was hard to deal with damages in general. My mom’s house wasn’t severely damaged, but still had roof leaks. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? The biggest loss from Ida has been the severe damages my grandma’s house now has. Also, being forced to live with other family members until the house can be fixed is a big loss. Listen
Jonathan Ricks
Hester, Louisiana Stayed What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? We must have moved around five times while waiting for power to come back. Dad is on the older side and needs to do dialysis. He has a machine that lets him do that at home, but it needs power. For the first three days we were just trying to figure out how to keep him alive. Fortunately, my older brother got power at his house, so we were all able to crash there. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? For our family, it was our pecan tree. That thing was around before I was. The parts of roofing that are missing, the vehicles that were damaged, and all the mold can be fixed. A 60 foot pecan tree, however, is a bit harder to replace. Listen
Troy Dupont
New Orleans, Louisiana Stayed with Grandmother What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? In my opinion the biggest loss from Ida was the down the bayou communities that were impacted the most. Not only did some of my friends lose their homes, but their stories were also uncovered by the national media. Listen
Emily Avet
Chauvin, Louisiana Evacuated to Houma, Louisiana What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? The hardest part after Ida is not being able to go home; not being able to stay in my own home. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? The biggest loss is everyone losing their homes..the places we grew up in. Most impactful experience The most impactful experience I’ve had was helping at Ward 7 everyday; helping everyone in need . It was crazy to see how many other states donated to us. They gave us so much stuff from tissues, toilet paper, and napkins to feminine products and soaps and baby necessities, and so many can goods. Listen
Austin Avet
Houma, Louisiana Stayed What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? There we so many homes that could’ve been saved if insurance companies would’ve worked more quickly and I think it correlates with the lack of media coverage for how slow everything is moving to help these people What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? I believe the biggest loss from Ida would just be the amount of homes overall completely destroyed and the lack of help and media coverage as well as the lengthy process in which many people have to go through to fix or find new homes Listen
Alan Knight
Houma, Louisiana Evacuated to Toledo Bend, Louisiana What has been the hardest part for you living through and after Ida? Our people who will not rebuild or return. What do you think is the biggest loss from Ida? I think we will have lost many old but dangerous trees. As a result of an increased awareness of the dangers of water oaks, we will continue to have those trees disappear near homes. Listen