Thursday, September 29, 2005

Finding Uncle Henry

Many people have asked why people left certain things behind in New Orleans. First, no one thought that the flooding would be as significant as it was. Second, even if it did flood, no one considered the possibility that you would not be able to get into the houses for more than a few days. Consequently, people left things behind that they would not have if they had known what was going to happen and for how long. This is a story of one of those items.

One of our great Aunts lives (or lived) in East New Orleans. This is one of the areas that was flooded the worst. Fortunately she got herself out several days ahead of time. Like many people she did not bring a ton of clothes or too many personal items. One of the items that was left behind was a sealed box with her late husband's ashes or as we call him - Uncle Henry.

Imagine the stress and frustration of knowing that you probably lost everything and realizing the pictures and memorabilia that you left behind, when you remember leaving a loved ones remains behind. It doesn't do much to help your spirits. Needless to say, everyone wanted to go inside the house and get them, unfortunately that area of New Orleans has not been open. After Rita, it may have re-flooded.

I have been trying to use all of my connections to get a pass into that area. Unfortunately, it is the one area that even police can't tell me how to get into. I did manage to get access to a real (see previous posts about the fake ones) FEMA pass and an a commissioned officer that volunteered to help but even he couldn't get in. Realize, up until this week it was probably not the safest place to be.

Today, my brother in law decided to give it a shot. He made it all the way to her exit off of I-10 (Read Blvd.). When he came off the exit, he was met by an NOPD officer. They let them know the humanitarian mission that they were on but the officer made it clear that this area was closed and would not open until next Wednesday. They had to turn on a few streets to get back to I-10 and just kept going. Civil disobedience at its finest. As all incidents I have been involved in, the officer did nothing. I think they "officially" have to tell people to go away but look the other way if you have a reason to be there.

He made it to the house and quickly discovered it was locked up tighter than a drum. Since this was a heavily flooded area he wore a mask the entire time. He went around to every window and they either had burglar bars or locks that prevented him from breaking in. He finally decided to break the sliding glass door that was not bared. As soon as the glass broke a smell overwhelmed him even with the mask on. He has cleared out 5 smelly houses and this was in a league of its own.

Side Note: All houses in this area were checked for bodies. If that is the case, why was this bunker not broken into? Once again, the media and officials have lied about things from the get go.

Back to the story...He went around the house and noted that it looked as if about 4 feet of water had been in it. This was good news as we had been told it had been up to the roof. Once again it seems that misinformation abounds. He had to take small baby steps as the floor was extremely slippery. There was a green and black mold that covered everything. It actually looked like fuzzy wallpaper. The furniture was a total loss as were most other items. He could not find the box so he ended up calling his father, who called the Aunt and found out where the box was. He eventually found it and a few other important items that weren't destroyed.

Leaving with Uncle Henry in hand, he made his way back to the Interstate and eventually Baton Rouge.

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