Letters from New Orleans

Another Loss To Our Family

2005-12-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

I have some sad news to share with the group. My Grandmother, Lucille Jeanfreau passed away Tuesday night at the age of 96. She was the quintessential "little Italian lady." She went to church regularly at St. Dominic and worked in the voting polls in at the fire station on Robert E. Lee. She loved to watch the Saints and also to complain about them after. She enjoyed cooking for her family and even more, she loved sitting down with them to enjoy the fruits of her labor. She was the proud mother of 2, grandmother of 5, and great grandmother of 2. This person, whom I was blessed to know, would talk to everyone she met for five minutes and would figure out how she was related to them, or who she knew that was related to them. My Dad use to tell me that when they were living in Gentilly in the early 50's, she would make him get in the car with her and drive around Lakeview looking for vacant lots. She called it “God’s Country.” Soon thereafter, she narrowed her search to a good old-fashioned 50X120 lot on Memphis. After purchasing the lot with my Grandpa, she began to contract the work to build the house that they had always dreamed of. No expenses were spared and construction was completed in 1954. After remaining an actively independent resident of the neighborhood until August, she left for the hurricane and went to stay with family in Slidell.

Every time my Grandma and I would get together for family functions in recent years, two things would happen. We would have a beer together and relax like old friends. Later on, every person (even those I didn’t know) would come up to me and tell me how amazing she was. To be so independent at 96 is quite an achievement that most of us could only dream of reaching. At the last family reunion, she won the award for the oldest Jeanfreau alive, which was quite a proud moment. Believe me when I say the bragging was rampant!

My Grandma only wanted one thing after the storm: to go home. There was no easy way to tell her that would not happen for a while. But she, like countless others I’m sure, came to the realization that her return might never happen. This once powerful and ambitious woman suffered from a broken heart and became weak and frail. Her demise became imminent and to be frank, she just sort of gave up. This mess yanked 5 years of her life away for sure. I know because I feel as though I have lost about 5 years. One thing that I have found throughout this series of events is that the emotional toll is exponentially higher for the elderly.

I am not sending this out to you all with the purpose of fishing for sympathy or anything like that. I have two reasons. First, she knew an unbelievable amount of people and I know that there are a lot of folks spread out all over the country. I just want to get the word out cause I know she would want me to. Services begin Monday at 11:00 am at Lamana-Panno-Fallo on Veterans and Bonnabel. I believe she will be smiling in heaven if she knows it’s a big social event. Secondly, I want everyone to take a moment and recognize how hard this situation is on the people older than you (even if it’s only a few years). For them, the clock is ticking and they have less time than you. Help them out if you can and appreciate the time that you have left because there are still plenty of beautiful days ahead. That is the only thing that I am sure of right now.

Greg Jeanfreau
LLL!

Meet the Lady in the Ad, Peggy Johansson

2005-12-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

The "elderly lady" in the Ad as some on this site has referred to her is my 85 year old mother-in-law who is currently living with me and my wife. Peggy Johansson is a life long resident of lakeview.

Some of you will find her story almost the story of Lakeview fromthe personal level.She moved to Lakeview in 1922 with her parents when she was two years old. They lived at 7008 Orleans Ave in a house that did not have indoor plumbing or electricity. She went to school at the Lakeview School and to John McDonough High School when the public school system in New Orleans was segregated not just by race, but by sex as well in high school.

She married Andres Johansson a resident of Lakeview who wasliterally born at 6979 General Haig, also a house with no indoorplumbing or electricity. They were married in July 1941. In January 1942 he joined the Navy and eventually saw action in the Pacific Theater. During the war was the only time she did not live in Lakeview. She tried to follow her husband around the country before he was finally shipped overseas. Then she waited for his return.

Once back from war they lived with his mother at 6979 General Haig until 1950 at that time he began building the house at 6971 General Haig, immediately next to his mother. I mean he built this house. The only work he didn't do with his own two hands was the licensedtrades of plumbing and electrical as well as the bricklaying. He worked at the Post Office and during the summers he held a second job at Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park. He eventually retired from the Post Office.

Peggy held different jobs in clerical or receptionist positions over the years when she wasn't raising her two children.Their two children both went to Ben Franklin High School and later graduated from Louisiana State University. Her son became a PhD inChemistry and her daughter a Certified Public Accountant.

Her husband died in that house from a heart attack almost five years ago now. She thought she would be buried from that house as well. Her children and her view the house as a family member and its loss is being treated with the same degree of grief.

Her picture in the Ad was taken shortly after she saw the inside of her Lakeview home for the first time during our first recovery operation. As to her future her children have met and agreed that given the conditions in New Orleans and her health they can't contemplate how she will ever live in New Orleans again.

Since she was without flood insurance we are waiting on an SBA inspection to complete that application. This story spans over eighty years from when Lakeviewwas a wilderness until its destruction.

Pam and Kevin Lair's Letter

2005-12-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress:

My wife and I lived at 6932 Bellaire Drive at the corner of Stafford Street in Lakeview. I say lived because the breech in the 17th street canal levee occurred in our backyard.

We have spent the last five years not only building our home and raising a family in New Orleans but have put every cent of our savings and home equity into starting our own small business, which unfortunately was located in the Lakeview area at West End and Robert E. Lee Blvd. Prior to Hurricane Katrina we had turned the corner and our business was finally taking off. We had 9 employees with a business plan to expand in the near future. Now all of that is gone.

Without financial help from the Government FAST we are going to be in a position where we will likely have to file for bankruptcy. We do not want to leave New Orleans, it is our home and we have spent our lives working to make it better. Please try to convey the sense of financial and personal loss that all of us in the area have sustained. We can’t get a straight story from our insurance carriers or our Federal Government in the form of the Army Corp of Engineers. How can anyone in Washington look at the devastation we have experienced knowing that the Corp is responsible and sleep at night??

THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE NEED HELP NOW, NOT MONTHS OR YEARS FROM NOW. PLEASE DON’T PENALIZE US BECAUSE OUR GOVERNOR IS CLUELESS AND HAS NO VISION OR PLAN. IF ANYONE IS LISTENING PLEASE HELP US BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!

Pam and Kevin Lair

Becky and David Worthylake's Letters

2005-12-12T21:27:00.000-08:00

My family has been displaced by hurricane Katrina. Please take a moment to read my story and understand what is needed in New Orleans. You will find that I have a different perspective because my family is not from Louisiana.
My husband and I are from Oregon, and have also lived in Utah and North Carolina during 5 years of graduate school and 5 years of postdoctoral training in the biosciences. We ended up in New Orleans last year, taking faculty positions at LSU Health Sciences Center. We were excited to join a University with enthusiastic, productive bioscience research programs, addressing the national goals of combating cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infectious disease. We were also very happy bringing our two young sons to New Orleans and living in the family-oriented Lakeview neighborhood. Our sons rode bicycles in the streets, went to school a few blocks from the house and were welcomed by the friendly people in the neighborhood. All of this was lost on August 29th.
Our home sustained minimal damage from hurricane Katrina, but was inundated with 10 feet of water following the breach of the 17th street canal. While we knew that New Orleans was at risk from a direct strike from a major hurricane, we were initially puzzled by the levee breaches because the storm surge and wind speeds brought to New Orleans by Katrina were well within the limits that the levees were intended to protect against. It is now clear that the levee system, particularly the floodwalls guarding the canals were not adequately designed and constructed. As you may be aware, Army Corps of Engineers own data shows that a safety factor of 1.3 was used, a level of protection used to protect farmland, not people and property. Now, we hear that the sheet piling on the 17th st canal was only driven to a depth of 10 feet, instead of the designed 17 ft. It is now clear why the levees failed: the management and construction of the levee system was fragmented, and designed without appropriate consideration for the human life and personal property it was meant to protect. The current Congress and Army Corps of Engineers must accept responsibility for the negligence and short-sightedness of their predecessors, and right the wrongs.
Because we are not from Louisiana, I appreciate the reluctance to spend billions of dollars to protect a city that lies below sea level. However, the city that was established in the 1700’s has become an important port city for the nation, and expansion to low lying areas was a necessary accompaniment to development of the port functions. There are both humanitarian and financial reasons to rebuild New Orleans. As one of the great nations of the world, it is unconscionable to let people in our own country have their city and lives destroyed and not respond with the same resources that we give to other nations facing crisis. On the financial side, it certainly would cost much less to build a proper levee system to protect against a category 5 hurricane, than to rebuild a flood ravaged city.
It is now more than two months past the disaster and we would like to return, resume our lives and contribute to the rebirth of the city; however, we need assurances that the city and region can provide us with the basic needs to support our return. It is rather like the chicken and egg dilemma – the city needs us to return to have the resources to function and we need a functional city in order to return. Specifically, we need category 5 levee protection, we need federal money to allow Entergy to rebuild power grids, and we need interim funds for the city to provide services that allow residents to return. This is the only way out of the chicken and egg dilemma. If definitive answers to these problems aren’t provided immediately, we will be forced to relocate.

Sincerely,
Becky Worthylake
6430 Marshall Foch
New Orleans, LA 70124

On August 29th, my family fled New Orleans in the face of Hurricane Katrina.
As of November 17th, we remain homeless because of a faulty levee system.
Although our home suffered minimal damage from Hurricane Katrina per se, our entire Lakeview neighborhood was catastrophically damaged by the flooding that ensued when the levees failed. First, we had to grapple with the shock and betrayal of learning that levee and floodwall designs incorporated margins of safety appropriate for the protection of farmland, not a major U.S. city. Now, the lack of congressional resolve to provide funds for the reparation of a category 5 levee system condemns us to limbo – unwilling to rebuild our Lakeview home, and unable to purchase another home in the city that provides our livelihood. We don’t understand how fellow Americans can think that it is time to ‘give up’ on New Orleans. Now is the time for this nation to showcase to the world our courage to own up to mistakes, our capacity for technological achievement, and our compassion within the homeland.

Sincerely,
David Worthylake
6430 Marshall Foch St.

Liz Stafford's Letter

2005-12-12T21:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Senators,

My name is Elizabeth Stafford. I am a 48 year old the mother of 2 children
and have been married for 23 years. We have lived in Lakeview for the last
15 years. I grew up in New Orleans and had friends who grew up in Lakeview.
Their parents called it "God Country". Most of them had built their homes
probably in the 50's . When we moved back to New Orleans I wanted to live
there. There was a strong sense of community that I wanted to raise my
children in. We became members of St Dominic Parish and my son started
school. We became active in the school and parish over the next 15 years. My
daughter just graduated from St Dominic Grammar School ;ast year and had
started St Mary's Dominican High School when our lives were turned upside
down by Katrina.

We had only packed for 3 days, the most we ever had to stay in Jennings, my
husband hometown, where we always evacuated to during past hurricanes. We
left everything mistakably thinking it was going to be the same as always. I
woke up at 3am when Katrina was scheduled to hit and was relieved to see
that the damage was not too bad. Our Lady of Prompt Succor had come through
again. For some reason I woke up about that same time the next morning. I
was shocked and saddened to find out that the 17th Street Canal levee had
breached. We live only 4 blocks away. As the day went on I became more and
more worried for our home. Our home was raised 5 ft off the ground so I held
out hope that maybe the damage was not too great. The water stayed in my
home for 2 and a half weeks before it was pumped out. We were not allowed by
the city to go back to our homes until October 4, 2005, my husband's
birthday.

Our home as the Senators who visited can attest to got 7 feet of water. You
can just imagine what 7 feet of toxic salt water can do to a home. When I
first entered my home I had to take a crow bar to the 100+ year old door of
my husband's grandmother. The way I describe what I saw when I first entered
my home is; it looks like a giant filled my house with water picked it up
shock it around and then set it back down just like it was. From the outside
it didn't look too bad but when you walked in the stench was unbearable. We
had what looked like hazmat suits on and so did our children who are 19 and
14 years old. My children lost everything they had in their bedrooms except
a couple of items. We did recover most of our photographs but lost all of
our home movies.

I believe the damage my house got was not from the hurricane but from the
lack if integrity of the levee system. That is not an act of God. This was a
man made catastrophe. I will do my part to rebuild my home. I will build my
home higher to be safer but the federal government needs to assist in the
speed of getting the levees fixed to the standard that I thought they were
before Katrina. I was born and raised in New Orleans. I lived out of New
Orleans for only a short time when I first got married for my husband to
finish school. I love New Orleans and want it back not exactly the way it
was but better.

My grandfather came to New Orleans from Sicily for a better life. He worked
hard and lived the American Dream. He was a naturalized citizen and was
proud his 5 children would have the opportunity he never had growing up. He
took the fruit stand he started and turned it into a grocery store on
Magazine St. His children took that grocery store and built it into a
wholesale meat company selling meat and poultry to the finest restaurants in
New Orleans. Before Katrina NATCO, the company started 70 years ago, was a
multi million dollar company selling to more than 250 of the finest
restaurants and hotels in New Orleans. Post Katrina they have less than a
dozen customers and the future is in the hands of the federal government.
They have been back at work since days after Katrina trying to rebuild a
business that has the blood sweat and tear of 2 generations before them.
They will fight with all they have but they need the businesses to sell to.

There are more small family businesses like our. They are all going through
the same problems. They will all work just as hard but they need something
to work with. How can New Orleans rebuild with no place for employees to
live. NATCO was promised trailers for their employees a couple of weeks
after the storm but have not received them yet. People want to come back to
work but have no place to live. Businesses want to come back but have no
employees. The federal government can do something and they need to do it
NOW. I had adequate Flood Insurance and want to rebuild but I need some kind
of good faith act by the Senate and House. New Orleans needs help. Not the
kind that makes us dependent the kind that helps us help ourselves. We are
known for letting the good times roll but we know how to work as hard as we
know how to play. Help us to get New Orleans back. The port, the seafood,
the city will all have a negative ripple effect on the entire region we do
not get back up and running. Please help New Orleans. I will do what it
takes. Email me at elizstafford@yahoo.com or call me at 1-504-931-4026. I
want to help but I have to have help big help.

Thanks in advance,

Elizabeth Stafford

Wendy Knight's Letter

2005-12-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress:

I am writing to express my concern, frustration - and fear!

Nearly three months ago.....(although it seems like a lifetime) we owned a FOUR MONTH OLD - 4,700 sq ft home in the “Lakeview” area of New Orleans. We refinanced our home in July, and it appraised for $775,000. We have put many resources (financial and physical) into our home to make it a nice place for our family and our community. We had wonderful neighbors, churches, schools, grocery stores, coffee shops…a great life. Within months - it was gone!

We had done everything that we could to protect our home. We have the maximum amount of flood insurance , excess flood insurance and homeowners . We have always paid our city, state and federal taxes in a timely manner. We spent over $5,000 a year on insurance to protect our home, and countless dollars in taxes to protect our community. At this point, it looks like we are at risk to leave this disaster with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and lost assets and no community.

When we built our home, we never dreamed that we would have to fear the break in our levee system....and as an American - I NEVER IMAGINED that we could remain in this state of flux for such an extended period of time.

We can tell from all of the reports that those who depended on governmental assistance before the disaster will be taken care of. We have many friends that are in the same financial situation that we are. I am writing in hopes that you will remember that the middle class has been devastated, also. Three months is a long time to wait for answers. We do not wish to be better off than we were before the storm…but we hope to be in the same financial situation that we were before the storm.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter,
Wendy W. Knight, M.H.A.
Vice President, Strategies and System Integration, Gulf States Health

Vicki Sobel's Letter

2005-12-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Members of Congress,

My husband and I purchased our home at 5239 Marcia Ave. in Lakewood South in April. We spent two months renovating it and moved in on May 30th, 2005 only to find out that same day that my husband had cancer. He was diagnosed with mutliple myeloma after a stay in the hospital earlier that month with pneumonia. He is only 48 years old and we have two small children, ages 5 and 2. This was a bit of a shock to say the least. So we researched and found that the best place for his treatment was at a facility in Little Rock. It is called the Myeloma Institute and has been a Godsend.

We were doing okay given the circumstances and had contemplated selling our new home because of the financial stress we were under. Then the phone call came. A friend called to tell us that a hurricane was headed straight for New Orleans. Of course, we figured we would be spared once again, but did have some friends board our house and move some things up to "higher" ground. By the morning of the hurricane, we felt that was the case. Then the levee broke..... we tried to think the best, but feared the worst.

We sat glued to our tv for weeks until my brother-in-law finally made it to our house on September 16th. He cried as he called me to tell me the news..... we had at least 5 feet of water in our home. It took a week or so for the reality to sink in. Then I had to prepare myself to return ALONE.

My husband cannot go anywhere near our home given his current state of health. I arrived the first week of October. I am sure people have said you can't really imagine what it's like until you see it in person. Well, that's true. You have to see it..... it's horrific. I spent a week trying to salvage anything, something, pictures, china, from my house. I felt fortunate compared to some of my neighbors. I got about 15 small boxes of stuff..... X-mas china, photo albums, knick knacks…things that wouldn't mean a thing to anyone else, but were so valuable to me. Then I made the decision to have the first floor of my house gutted because I had no idea what else to to.

I returned back to Little Rock with no time to spare. My husband underwent his frist stem cell transplant two days later. He's doing great, but the weight is on me to figure out what to do with our house. We are uncertain as to whether or not Steven can live there because of his illness. The best thing for us would be to sell the house, but so far, we've had one offer and it was too low. We owe a large amount on our home and we cannot afford to lose everything at this point. We are hoping and praying that someone, something will happen to help us out of this mess. As for now, I am planning on renovating my home. It will be a challenge. Renovating from Little Rock..... but I've come this far, I'm sure I can handle it!

I hope our story helps convey some of what people are going through. This has been a nightmare for so many of us. I hope we all wake up soon.............

Vicki Sobel

Maria Eck Bullard's Letter

2005-12-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress:

Without this guarantee of safety and level of comfort that a secure, sufficient and reliable levee system will bring, many of Louisiana's citizens and successful companies have relocated and will continue to relocate out of state.

My family lost our home in Lakewood South which was located on the 17th Street Canal, and we do not feel comfortable returning with our family to this or any part of the Greater New Orleans Area. Our 4 children knew no other home but New Orleans, but day by day, they are adjusting to their new life outside of the state. All of our memories are in our home, which is now destroyed. The memories most predominant now are the looks on our children's faces as we drove up to and looked through the windows of our destroyed home. Our home was a one-story, located on the 17th Street Canal Levee, and we lost literally EVERYTHING.

My husband was a pediatric dentist in the New Orleans area, but without the assurance of our family's safety, we will also not be able to bring our business back into the area. We also fear that without the assured safety from this type of preventable devastation, our patients will not be returning to the city either, therefore the economic feasibility of returning is bleak. We also lost all of his dental equipment and office, so we are hesitant to make the financial commitment to rebuild if we are not assured this level of safety and financial viability of New Orleans.

We love our home of New Orleans, and the future of our city and the entire area is depending on you to take some action and to ensure the safety and future of our families. If my children grow up outside of Louisiana because of this, the likelihood of them returning as adults will be greatly diminished, and that saddens us.

You hold the future of our state in your hands, therefore we call upon you for action regarding the community's safety and future.

Sincerely,
Maria Eck Bullard
Currently residing in Little Rock, Arkansas
(lifelong resident of New Orleans)

Paul Sterbcow's Letter

2005-12-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

Members of Congress:

I am a lifelong Lakeview resident, married with 3 children, ages 14, 11 and 22 months. Prior to Katrina, Lakeview was a model American neighborhood. A mixture of upper, upper-middle and middle class families, young and retired, the neighborhood is situated in Orleans Parish between downtown New Orleans and the surrounding suburbs. Many residents were second generation in the area. It’s streets are lined with beautiful oak trees. It had a vibrant and diversified religious community. Large Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches, and an orthodox synagogue, are located within 2 miles of one another. It had a large neighborhood playground, supported by neighborhood families, that provided excellent athletic programs year round and was a feeder for the city’s best high school athletic programs. It provided a sound and substantial tax base for the city. It was clean and crime free. It never flooded in heavy rains even when other parts of the city were affected. Working families who chose to stay in the city and raise their kids rather than flee to the surrounding parishes called it home.

All of this changed on August 29. The levee that was supposed to protect us failed DUE TO HUMAN ERROR, not the hurricane. Had the levee been designed and built properly, the vast majority of residents would be back in their homes. Now, the neighborhood has been left in ruins by salt water and it’s contents. Homes had 4-10 feet of standing water for weeks. I had a little less than 8 feet of water in my home, which my wife and I purchased in 1989 and spent years remodeling and improving. The first floor, where my 3 kids’ bedrooms, the kitchen, great room and computer room were located, was totally destroyed. My 14 year old daughter lost her clothes, school records and yearbooks, hundreds of childhood photos, religious articles and irreplaceable mementos of a wonderful life. In addition to his clothes, etc., my 11 year old son lost his prized baseball equipment and trophies to salt water that ate through them like a hot knife through butter. My kids cannot go back because the scene causes them to have nightmares. My story has been repeated thousands of times throughout the neighborhood, which remains without electricity, water and gas 10 weeks after the levee break. All plant life below the water line is dead and rotting. Although residents want to go home and in fact have returned to tear out the damage in their homes and try to protect their assets, we are very limited in what we can accomplish as individuals, particularly without utilities. Each passing day allows further rot and deterioration, and lessens the chance that we can bring our neighborhood back.

I respectfully suggest that every member of Congress visit my neighborhood and see the destruction firsthand. Although I have provided before and after photos, neither words nor photos can tell the true story. You must see, smell and taste the devastation. You must experience a place with no birds, squirrels or other sounds of life. Then, imagine your neighborhood and your constituency in this condition. Any decent human being will be deeply moved and compelled to take action to help.

Please provide us with the help we need to rebuild. As the most powerful country on earth, we clearly are capable of accomplishing this monumental job. We are quick to rebuild cities and countries around the world, most notably Iraq, a country where many of the citizens hate America. Yet, the taxpaying, patriotic residents of Lakeview somehow must “justify” our need for substantial federal assistance. This is unconscionable and unacceptable. We are not looking for a welfare handout; if we receive the basic help that we need, such as a subsidy for a bankrupt utility company, a quick, decisive and competent levee rebuilding effort, trailers to allow us to return while we rebuild and bridging funds to help us with rebuilding expenses while we fight with out flood and homeowners insurance companies, we will rebuild our own neighborhood. If Congress ignores Lakeview, it is ignoring a model American neighborhood grounded in religious, family and civic responsibility. Lakeview needs and deserves the highest priority so that we can once again become a wonderful place to live and raise a family.

Paul Sterbcow

Michael and Anna Maggio's Letter

2005-12-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Members of Congress:

We would like to share our story with you, in order to get a better picture of the situation we, residents of Lakeview, are encountering on a daily basis. Our names are Michael and Anna Maggio and we have three children - Christopher (age 13), Stephen (age 11), and Nicholas (age 9). We have been involved in Lakeview for the last 17 years, and my husband's family for the past 45 years.

We moved to 430 Spencer Avenue in November of 1987, it was originally a double and we remodeled it into a single in 1994, and finally in 2004 we decided to build a new house in that location, since we were planning to stay there for the rest of our lives. After almost a year and a half, we finally moved into our new house in May 2005. Unfortunately, three months later, Hurricane Katrina comes to New Orleans and with that, the flood that we will never forget. If you look at the map of the breach, our house is located approximately 50 yards from the breach. The current of the water was so strong in our street that some of our neighbors have lost half of their houses. In the pictures I have enclosed, you will find before and after of just 3 parts of our house; however, if you would like more showing the devastation of our house, I have over 150 pictures of our house and others. Besides looking at the pictures, I recommend that the members of Congress go inside some of these houses to really appreciate the damage.

This flood also affected everyone in both sides of our families because we all lived in New Orleans; therefore, we have 5 families without a home. This event has destroyed many families with dreams of raising their children in the quiet neighborhood of Lakeview. Instead of our kids playing sports, now our weekends are spent trying to salvage anything we can from the houses of our family members. Then after salvaging, desinfecting everything from the waters and mud in which they are covered in, some are salvageable, others we have to discard.

We are now renting a house in Metairie waiting to hear what the government plans to do with the levee. From the meeting I went at St. Dominic a lot was said about rebuilding, but how can we do such a thing when we have not received any answers on their plans for the levee. Maybe we should learn from the Dutch and even hire them to construct a strong levee so we do not go through this devastation once again in our lives.

Now that we have lost our houses, the hardest thing for everyone is the decision of what to do, rebuild or relocate to another city. A lot of people have chosen the second option due to the lack of response. We hope that by the end of the year we have some action on the levee and the rebuilding of the city.

Sincerely,

Michael and Anna Maggio

Charles and Anne Lacourrege's Letter

2005-12-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Congressmen and Congresswomen:

We live(d) at 6975 Canal Boulevard in New Orleans, but lost our house to Katrina. We had 10 feet of water in our one story house causing the ceiling to collapse. Our loss was very near complete. It capped a very bad year for us, but especially for our two sons.

Our older son was nine when the storm hit and our younger son was two. Since before our eldest was born, my wife’s parents, both deaf mutes, lived in our house with us. Her mother had broken both of her hips and different times and had two hip replacements. In addition, in the past few years she suffered with open pressure wounds on her legs and feet, two lung diseases, for which she had to use a nebulizer four times a day, atrial fibrillation, as well as other health problems. Since 1999, her father suffered with Alzheimer’s in addition to the diabetes he had suffered with for years. We were their caregivers for these last years.

On New Year’s Eve 2004, my mother-in-law died of a pulmonary embolism in our home while we were having a family party. During the first few months of the year, my father-in-law suffered a series of strokes, until he died on April 20, 2005.

Because of all of the sickness in the house, we were advised to do a major renovation to clean up our house. We totally renovated my in-laws bathroom, re-carpeted the entire house, re-painted, and replaced a great deal of the furniture. This renovation work was completed the day before we evacuated for Katrina.

In the first nine months of the year, my eldest son lost two grandparents who lived with him his entire life, his pet cat (which died in the storm), his toys, his house, his school and all of friends.

My wife and I were both born in New Orleans at Mercy Hospital. We grew up in the city, went to school, including college at UNO, in the city. We are in Houston now, but we want to come home. We want to rebuild on our lot in Lakeview, but we are scared. We need to be sure that our new home, and the businesses at which we work will be protected against future storms. If residents and businesses are to return, it is imperative that the strongest possible protection be incorporated to protect the city. If this is not done, then all other recovery projects are useless.

Charles and Anne Lacourrege

MIchael Schneider's Letter

2005-12-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Senator/Representative _________:

This is a first. I have never before asked my government for help.
What more appropriate time than now when we are about to lose a major
American city. I am a New Orleanian, and I assure you it is happening.
My home flooded along with many thousands of others. My family remains
separated over three months after the storm. My wife stayed in Florida
where my daughter now attends school while I returned to New Orleans to
help rebuild our lives, my city and my business. Today's N.Y. Times
editorial is right - New Orleans is dying. We are not fine. We cannot
and will not make it without federal help. Hence my first plea for help
from my government.

What New Orleans needs from the federal government is actually very
simple - flood protection. We thought President Bush made this
commitment when he was here soon after the storm. I distinctly remember
his comment that New Orleans would be rebuilt higher and better. The
Congress has not implemented this commitment. Now is the time to do so.
New Orleans cannot wait. It will languish and die if the commitment is
not made NOW. We will not reinvest our hard earned money back into our
flooded homes and businesses until we know we have effective flood
protection. Would you?

Flood protection historically has been a federal responsibility. It is
also now a moral obligation. Hurricane Katrina did not devastate my
city. My federal government did. It was responsible for the levees
that broke and flooded the city. All I have to do is look at my lucky
neighbors on the opposite side of the 17th Street canal to see that the
storm did little or no damage in areas where the levees held. The
federal government has a moral obligation to fix what it broke. All we
ask is that it gets fixed right. Make sure the levees are rebuilt in a
way that provides effective flood protection. Rebuilding to what we had
before is not good enough. They did not work. They broke. The levees
must be rebuilt higher and better as promised by President Bush.

We know we have local and state problems, and we should be reminded of
them until we fix them. But, as an editorial in our local newspaper put
it, that is like blaming the assault victim because she wore her skirt a
little too short. It is also wrong. Remember, the local folks were not
responsible for the levees; the federal government was. We should and
we can fix our local and state problems. Believe me, many of us are
trying and we will continue until we are successful. Flood protection
cannot wait. Flood protection begins and ends every conversation and
decision in this community. Everything else is secondary if our
government cannot keep our lives and homes safe.

New Orleans has been a great city for over 300 years. It is like no
other place on earth. It is worth saving. I implore you to save it.

Thank you.

Michael Schneider

Kevin Himel's Letter

2005-12-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

To Whom It May Concern,

I’m sending this message and pictures to as many of you in the House and Senate as I can think of as well as a few select friends to get the word out on the aftermath of Katrina. It’s lengthy but please read to the end and please view the pictures afterwards.

My name is Kevin Himel and my home is New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s been called the city that Care Forgot but has never been considered a city that forgets to care. Even with our high poverty level, proportionately Louisianians have given more in donations in times of need than the citizens of most states. Although, as a community we lack in finances our cup has always and continues to overflow with culture, food, art and hospitality.

I’ve been a volunteer for the New Orleans Police Department on and off for the past 11 years. Like many, I evacuated the city with my family to Dallas but after many phone calls to get a pass back into the city I returned the day after the storm to lend my hand where it was needed. It was the first time in a year and a half that I had put my uniform on. It felt good because the patch on my sleeve said New Orleans and at least to me it was an affirmation that I’m not just from New Orleans but rather “of” New Orleans.

My family traces it’s roots in New Orleans back to the late 1780's. My great grandfather served as secretary for two Mayors of New Orleans as well as the New Orleans Fire Department. We’ve also owned corner neighborhood grocery stores and bar & grills through the years. My grand father made the best pastries at the Blue Star on the corner of Hidalgo and Canal. We worship in churches that our ancestors worshiped in, which had always defied storms of the past. We hug and kiss on the cheek as a normal greeting for friends and even strangers. We are a city of colorful characters rather than robotic strangers all marching to the beat of the same drummer. We cherish our unique culture some of which dates back centuries. We are reverent towards our old brick buildings as they co-exist amongst the glass, brass and marble of newer taller structures. We are a city of saints and sinners. At Mardi Gras, the families of the President of a bank to the janitor of a bank co! mmingle in celebration. Rich, poor, black or white, it really doesn’t matter. New Orleans is not just a spot on the map and is certainly not represented solely by the image of Bourbon Street. I mention this because this place matters to me and thousands of others who share similar or the same stories.

You may have seen the images on television but in no way can that describe the enormity of this disaster. You’d have to smell it, walk through it’s mucky waters and see bodies floating down streets canopied by 100 year old oak trees. You’d have to listen to the cries for help and pull people into your boat from a street normally traveled by car. I experienced it first hand and the enormity of it all still has not completely sunk in.

My family understands disasters as my brother was in the World Trade Center in New York while he was a member of the United States Secret Service and had their offices there. While that disaster was enormous and horrible and many lives lost, New York very quickly was able to get back on it’s feet and move on. It’s comeback is one of the great American stories. I think it’s time for another great story. The comeback of New Orleans.

New Orleans did have many problems before Katrina. However the silver lining to this great tragedy is that New Orleans has a clean slate to build on. Our unique history has proven that we can be an economic powerhouse and be a model for other cities. Just as a dirty oyster can reveal a precious pearl, so can New Orleans but we need, or rather demand your assistance. Imagine if New Orleans was your hometown.

WHAT WE NEED:

Your UN-DIVIDED attention.

We need the money for first class levees. The flooding was caused by human error - this was a man-made problem, not a natural disaster. We need Category 5 hurricane protection. Some of Europe’s greatest cities are only there because of their levee protection and I believe that New Orleans should deserve the same or better than her sister cities over seas.

The City of New Orleans needs interim financing for basic needs until we have a tax base to support ourselves. There’s a lot of pork which can be cut from your pet projects. You do your part and we’ll do ours.

We need the same federal assistance for Entergy New Orleans to rebuild the power grids that ConEdison got after 9/11. We must have power to have people. Our people face an unprecedented restoration that they do not have the assets to support. This will come in time.

We need help closing the insurance gaps between what homeowners and flood insurance will pay and what people owe.

Please approve the request of Senators David Vitter and Mary Landrieu as well as the rest of the Louisiana delegation.

Time is of the essence. We need these things NOW so that people can start to make plans for the future. The longer the debate goes on the more our wounds bleed.

I encourage you to make a visit here because nothing can compare to seeing the devastation in person. Contact one of our council members or even me. I’d be more than willing to share my New Orleans with you.

Respectfully Submitted and
Proud to call New Orleans Home,
Kevin Himel

Kay Gannon's Letter

2005-12-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress,

My ancestor, Gabriel Bordelon, came to the New Orleans Area (actually it was first Mobile) in 1699 and assisted Bienville in settling this great city in 1718. He married my 17th great grandmother Anne Francoise Roland at St. Louis Cathedral in 1727. Needless to say, my family has very deep roots in this city and surrounding area.
My daughter, Kathleen, was recently presented at the Founders Society of the City of New Orleans. This was a very proud moment for my family. She is scheduled to make her formal Debut here in New Orleans.
I am a member of many social organizations that support this city in various ways, i.e. scholarship funds, historical preservation, veterans associations, etc.
My home is located on the 17th Street Canal in New Orleans. Although I did not get water (miraculously) inside my home, I have suffered major damage to my air/heating system, pool, electrical system, plumbing, roof, etc. But it is not only the physical damage to my property, it is our way of life is totally changed.
My children were born and raised in our home and I would like for them to return to be productive members of this community. We need a community for our children to return to when they complete their college studies. I realize that money cannot replace all that we have lost, but I would like the Congress of the United States to know that we as Americans deserve to be recognized that we need assistance NOW. We cannot wait for studies and lobbying. We need help now.
I work as a nurse for Intracorp Corporation providing medical case management services for workman's compensation injuries. I work on an hourly basis. If workers cannot come home to work, I will not be able to work. I have financial obligations that cannot wait.
My parents lost our family home in Bay St. Louis, MS. The home was in our family for over 100 years located on the Bay. They are in their 70s and are planning on rebuilding, my brother lost his home in Slidell, LA and will also rebuild. My sister was fortunate on St. Charles and Napoleon, but has lost her job as a New Orleans Public School teacher. She still plans on staying here in New Orleans. My other sister lives in Old Covington and fortunately her home survived. All of my immediate family and extended family plan on rebuilding, but we cannot do it without help.
Kathleen "Kay" Gannon
108 Maryland Drive
New Orleans, LA 70124-1029

John Haspel's Letter

2005-12-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

Distinguished Congressmen & Congresswomen,

I have been a life long resident of New Orleans. I resided at 5551 Cherlyn Dr, New Orleans, LA. until I was forces to evacuate due to Hurricane Katrina.
My family and I would like to return to New Orleans, however we have many concerns. First, do we rebuild our home or buy another within the city only to go through this again next year. Katrina exposed a seriously flawed levee system. Secondly, is the environmental condition, and in particular the air quality of the city a safe place to live and raise children? We are concerned that accurate information is not being disseminated to the public.

Another dilemma that many people are confronted with is the loss of equity in their home. The fact that people have to continue to pay on a mortgage on a house that they can no longer inhabit, and will only receive claims against their flood insurance, which in most cases does not cover the full extent of the damages. A fact that makes this hard to accept is that the flood was caused by a flawed levee system.

Currently, I am in the process of opening up business in the New Orleans area and I am very concerned about finding qualified employees. I have come to understand that this problem exist because of the lack of housing for employees. This seems to be a vicious cycle, people are reluctant to return without services and business open, and without people and housing business can't and won't open.

To sum up, I believe that the problems that confronts New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are unpresidented and requires the help from Washington D.C. Please help us.
Sincerely,

John Haspel

Joe Childress, Jr.'s Letter

2005-12-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

To our Congressional Senators and Representatives:
Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not waste your time on attempting to educate you on the relative values and contributions of New Orleans and why it should be saved. Time, the price of gas and perhaps a harsh winter will educate you more than my mere words.

What i will focus on is the "depopulation of a major metropolitan area". Consider the term "depopulation of a major metropolitan area" and i challenge you to come up with another such depopulation in the last 100 hundred years. Though my experience is limtied, i can only come up with one...and that is the total depopulation of Hiroshima. How about you, can you come up with another?

In both circumstances (Katrina and the atomic bomb), the end result was a depopulation of a major metropolitan area....the difference is one depopulation was undertaken by mankind with a specific intent to limit casualties and end an incredible World War event.......the other depopulation was the result of mankind's (Your and my Corps of Engineers)questionable workmanship and public non disclosure.
Both cities sufferred major depopulations; however, Hiroshima was leveled....New Orleans was left standing. And that Ladies and Gentlemen is one of the hardest realities to deal with. To equate the atomic bombs affect on Hiroshima and Katrina's affects on New Orleans may seem a bad case of apples and oranges, but if you can expand your thinking process and focus on the resulting "depopulation" and not whether the cause was a just cause or righteous, then you would see the incredible sadness of a depopulation of a major metropolitan area that still is erect and stands....not leveled. Destroyed; but left standing due to mankind's efforts or lack thereof.

When i first entered Lakeview the third week after Katrina, I looked at the first house and then for the next 3 miles to my destination, i could not bear to look at another. There was a spirituality, or perhaps a feeling of infringemnet of observing total destruction, but destruction that was still erect and apparently sound.

If you have not seen it, then please do so at once. Experience the intense sadness looking at an upright, intact home which on a Friday night pre-Katrina hosted a shrimp boil and by Tuesday night was still standing but was totally worthless due to failed levees caused by our own government's workmanship and the quagmire of homeowner's and flood insurance.

When I returned from Lakeview, my wife asked how bad it was. My reply was that "I do not have a command of the english language to be able to pickout the noun, adjective and adverb to adequately describe what i saw....but i knew what the emotion was......as i expressed to her "The medical community needs to be put on alert ASAP as the Lakeview residents should be put on suicide watch". Such is the impression of trying to digest TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF A HOME YET THE HOME REMAINS UPRIGHT AND STRUCTURALLY SOUND.

How can anyone digest such a paradox, but members of Congress this paradox is real!!!!!!! Live's lost, live's forever changed, families disenfranchised, neighborhoods wiped out. For just one moment i ask that you close your eyes and focus on a major metropolitan area in your district....and then visualize its total destruction not due to Mother Nature, but due to your own government's workmanship. How do you digest it, explain it, understand it, and communicate about it? Ladies and Gentlemen, that is the problem we here in New Orleans now face. How can we get you to understand that our entire city was destroyed by our own government. The city weathered Katrina fine....the city was just not strong enough to overcome substandard workmanship.

As i said earleir, if you have not come to N.O....please do so at once. Stand in the neighborhoods that are erect but destroyed. Grasp the magnitude of mankind's failed work. Contrast the destruction and leveling of Hiroshima and the destruction and "uprightness" of New Orleans. Let the feelings of sadness overwhlem you, let its smells stimulate your senses, let your eyes behold the paradox and destruction...then gather yourself and understand the gravity of the event. Understand that this was preventable....grasp that this did not have to happen.....then go to work to remedy the situation.....go to work to correct what was so mishandled by our own agency, and go to work to help the citizens of our area regain the diginity and lifestyle that was taken away from them.

There are no headlines or pictures coming out of N.O. now that dominate the news....perhaps we are already old news, but we are here everyday digging out, getting commerce going, reemerging with profound effort by all, but we need your help lest our efforts be in vein. Come and see for yourself, Congress is going on T-giving recess....our airport is coming back online...there is no excuse why you can not come see and experience what is now our New World...come and see....educate yourself to be able to know how you can best help overcome a depopulation of a US major metroplitan area.....it is your job....it IS your responsibility.
Respectfully and with great passion,

Joe Childress, Jr.

Ray Broussard's Letter

2005-12-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress:

We loved our life in New Orleans too. We lived in Lakeview right behind St. Dominick's on Vicksburg Street and like nearly everyone else in our zip code, we lost our home and everything we ever had. I wish I could say the losses were limited to my zip code, but there are many hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering, really suffering, everywhere from Bayou Labatre Alabama to Cameron Louisiana. You would have to see it to believe it.

I've posted 920 pictures of our New Orleans flood damaged homes and businesses here:

http://www.MaritimeNewMedia.com/katrina/

These pictures represent only a very small fraction of the damage. I have thousands more flood damage pictures, but no time to post them. Most of us New Orleanians have 'time' problems these days.

Families are separated. Income is interrupted. Bills are due. We want to go home. FEMA, SBA, banks & insurance companies are making all this as difficult as possible. Most of us were underinsured to some extent. The government has not yet assured us they will protect us from future storm surges. New Orleanians aren't used to dealing with this much stress and we are dropping like flies.

The US Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for the design, contracting and construction oversight of our levees. They had claimed the levees would hold back a storm surge from a Category 3 storm, but the levees failed miserably before design loads were encountered. They killed over a thousand of our elderly, destroyed our wonderful city and much of our culture and many of our traditions may be lost forever. This was negligent homicide. This was a man made disaster. We feel like fools for trusting the USACOE.

Our feelings are hurt. We thought we were well liked. Over one fourth of the nation's seafood is caught in Louisiana. We make great music. We have unique cultures and character. A major percentage of the nation's oil and gas comes from here. Our port is one of the largest in the world and vital to our country. When America sought to buy New Orleans, they accidently bought 13 states in the deal. But, our leaders in Washington are letting us rot in limbo. Some say it is because they don't trust us with the money. Well guess what? We don't trust our local government with the money either - but that is no excuse to kill off us New Orleanians.

We've played happy host to the oil and gas industry, but the USACOE permitted that industry to criss cross our wetlands with pipeline canals that have caused us loss of our Southeast Louisiana wetlands which used to serve as our storm surge buffer. The Corps built huge levees for the Mississippi River all the way to its mouth which halted the continious growth of landmass in Southeast Louisiana that had been growing for tens of thousands of years. We need those wetlands restored for our protection.

Here we are four months after the storm and FEMA has only provided a few hundred trailers to New Orleanians - there are a few hundred thousand of us that are homeless and we want to go home.

New Orleanians are getting very angry. We want to go home. We don't want carpetbaggers, like the Urban Land Institute, pushing their Disney Land version of New Orleans down our throats. And, we are going home. One way or another - come hell or high water. We will rebuild.

Please write your congressmen and our president and our damned Louisiana legislature (they seem to hate New Orleans too) and demand they do the right thing.

If y'all are going to let us rot and not provide our storm surge protection, please TELL US, so we can make decisions. Don't leave us in limbo land.

Ray Broussard
was 70124 now 70130
born and raised in New Orleans

Ilene Simoncioni's Letter

2005-12-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress,

My husband and I are both disabled. In order to have a decent income, we have invested in several rental properties. We have people who maintain them for us and do everything that needs to be done.

The accident which everyone calls the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, i.e. the flooding of Lakeview in New Orleans, caused our duplex at 6661-63 Avenue A to be flooded up to the ceiling of the first floor. This address is quite near the break in the levee, and consequently the property has been very severly damaged.

Although we had flood insurance on the property, it certainly is not enough. Whoever thought that a flood would occur that would cover the entire first floor? Certainly not us, because in that area, water had never even accumulated in the street!

When we tried to enter the property after that area of town was opened, we could not. The door on this property, as well as all those around, had been broken down by the police looking for bodies. Luckily, the tenant who had stayed for the hurricane was rescued by boat from the second story window a couple of days later. The interior of the house resembled a cave. All the furniture had been swept to the front door and was covered with mold. All the walls and ceilings were covered with mold. It was dark inside, although the day was sunny and clear. We could not climb over the furniture nor keep our footing on the slippery, slimy mold. As I have an immune problem and my husband has heart disease, we were required to don protective gear, but this did not help in our getting into the house. It was impossible.

The adjuster for our flood insurance was there to inspect the property that day. When he looked inside the door, he uttered a groan and said that he didn't need to go inside. He could tell that the policy limit would be paid.

The windstorm damage was minimal. Because the flood policy does not include income lost because of the loss of use of the house, we have no income from the property. We don't have enough money to repair the property. Our bank account has been drained just trying to have the moldy interior pulled out, along with the tenants' furniture.

As a result of the failure of the levee, we have sustained damages that threaten our present and our future. Additionally, because of doubt as to whether the levee will be rebuilt to withstand even a Category 3 storm, we cannot determine to rebuild. Another of these events would be too much to bear, both physically and financially.

We in New Orleans have always trusted in the levee system. Can we do that in the future? I don't know. I don't know how the mayor continues to say we are rebuilding New Orleans. I called Entergy today and was told that electricity MAY be back on in four to six weeks. They have no idea when gas will be restored because of severity of the damage. How can we trust our property and OUR LIVES to the half-hearted, inconclusive, half-baked THOUGHT that the levee system will be rebuilt? I just don't know.

Sincerely,
Ilene Simoncioni

Anne Freedman's Letter and Photos

2005-12-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Congress,

We are long time Lakeview residents...and long time New Orleans residents. My husband was born and raised here. I dreamed of New Orleans for years before finally moving here about 25 years ago. Now I am hopelessly in love. We are a city of great and small wonders. Have you ever in your life seen so many different shades of green as you can see in my city on an early summer day? Have you ever walked around your neighborhood, accompanied by a flock of wild parrots?

Have you ever listened to the sounds on the street when school lets out and children drum New Orleans back beat rhythms on street signs....or a lone trumpeter...12 years old blows some notes while waiting for a school bus.I love my New Orleans area because we serve the whole country....with our ports and our oil refineries and rigs...and we feed your souls with our music and our food.We teach you how to sing and dance....and we teach you how to love and mourn.

You have opened your hearts to us in our time of tragedy. Never before has an entire city been devastated as we have. I have waded through the muck to get to my house in Lakeview and to say goodbye to it. I have climbed over debris and broken furniture to get inside my living room to salvage a few pieces of my grandmother's china and my mother's wedding crystal. I found a picture of my beloved 88 year old mother in law still on my refrigerator (which floated face up into another room) and saved it.

I cried with my next door neighbor as we waited for the FEMA rep to come and meet us. And we knew we would probably never see each other again.I don't grieve the loss of my possessions. They are not me and they are not my life. I grieve the loss of my neighbors. I grieve the loss of my friends now scattered to every state in the nation.

I grieve the loss of our music because many of our musicians have no place to live. I grieve my beautiful City Park and all the oak trees in our neighborhood which blew down or drowned.I grieve for the world for the loss of our unique city and I vow that I will return to it and help to rebuild. I've learned that we cannot depend on government or any other entities to protect us or come to our aid in times of catastrophe....though that is what we hired you all to do...

I have learned that we must take care of ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods and then do One More Thing. We must drive someone to work who lost their car. We must take our own garbage to the dump. We must help a business get started again by volunteering to work for free if we can do so. We must protect our culture by listening to the beat of New Orleans..by singing and dancing and eating red beans and rice every Monday....and by loving and giving to each other in whatever way we can.

I'm in my 4th place since evacuating on the Saturday before the storm. I'm doing relief work for a social service agency in Baton Rouge and will return to New Orleans in December. My home is not livable. Attached are before and after pictures of my home.

Thank you for all that you are doing for our community.

Anne Freedman
6433 Marshall Foch
New Orleans, LA 70124

Denise Brown's Story

2005-12-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Congressmen and Congresswomen:

Here is my Lakeview Story: We evacuated about 3 am. on Sunday morning. As you may recall, until about 2:00 on Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting that the storm would go to Florida. As you can see from the before photos, I tried to pick a few things up off the floor. My house had never flooded before, but a friend whose husband is an airline pilot called to tell me that this was the "perfect storm"--get out. I sandbagged the doors, taped the windows and left for Baton Rouge where we hotel reservations through Tuesday night.

At first, it looked as though the worst had passed through and Lakeview might be safe. A little while later we heard that the levee broke. I lived about 1.5 miles from the levee, near the Orleans Ave. canal. A neighbor, who stayed because her husband was on rotation at E.J., called and said we were fine until the levee broke and then the water rose 5 feet in less than 3 hours. A few hours later on CNN I saw helicopters rescuing people from the top of the bridge across the street from my house.

On Wednesday night, our reservation expired. We'd made back up reservations at the hotel across the way, but the people there refused to leave. We hated to "squat" in the hotel room we had, but had no choice. We called the manager, told him our predicament and as luck would have it, he was able to accomodate us because the football game was cancelled and an executive order was passed so people wouldn't be turned out on the street.

Try to imagine living in a hotel room for 2 weeks with 3 changes of clothes and everything you own in the back seat of your car, in a strange city where you get lost every time you venture out.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I got an apartment and my kids are in town. I know three families where the whole family has been split apart since Katrina. Mom was staying with me and working in Baton Rouge, Dad is working in Metairie, kids are in different schools, pregnant daughter in Tennessee---even the dog is staying with friends! Others are commuting almost 200 miles round trip everyday.I saw my house for the first time on October 3.

My children have no high school year books or pictures of their friends. My daughter, who is a freshman at LSU, said she just wanted to go home for a visit, but she can't. We had no winter clothes, no bathing suits, no toenail clippers, no bathrobe. I had no closed toe shoes, or sweaters or jackets for the first cool snap. Things that people take for granted every day.

We didn't have trick or treat in our neighborhood this year, we won't have Thanksgiving or Christmas morning at home this year either. Unless Congress and the bureaucrats get moving, we won't have it next year either.

We just want to go home, but we can't until the levees are fixed and a new building code is issued so we can rebuild. Hopefully this will happen sometime before insurance benefits run out for housing and the ICC deadline expires, but hope wears thin when our questions are answered with blank stares and red tape and an answer that is the equivalent "this isn't our job--call another agency". Please try to remember that these are people's lives and homes.

Before you vote against the appropriation for levees and rebuilding, try to imagine what it would feel like not to be able to go home tonight, or ever again. At lunch your house and community were there, and by dinner they were gone. Close your eyes and imagine that these are your children. They can't go back to their school and play soccer this year. That your pregnant daughter is in Tennessee about to deliver your first grandchild, or that this was your child's senior year of high school and they were competing for a scholarship. This happened to people just like you--not just a few criminals who were staying in the Superdome!

We have spent billions of dollars on a war in the Middle East and rebuilding several foreign countries, it is absolutely unthinkable that citizens of this country would have to beg for what our Congress gladly gives citizens of other countries.

Denise Langlois Brown
Corporate Counsel, Senior Vice President
Assistant Secretary
Hibernia National