Messages By: sixpacknla

I live in Slidell,  Louisiana where the eye  of Hurricane Katrina hit. Ours was one of the hardest hit parishes, but i believe people have forgotten how bad it really was around here. We never hear of people talking about how Saint Tamman Parish still needs help. It's always New Orleans and Lakeview and Metairie. I have to say with the help of Mayor Ben Morris and the rest of our parish government, ours was the most successful in the clean-up and rebuilding in the aftermath of this catastrophe, but we are NO WHERE NEAR 100% and it's sad to say, but we may never be again. There is still a LOT to be done here. There are many who either have trailers to rebuild their homes but to not have the help from FEMA or their insurance companies and then there are those who never got FEMA trailers, but got help from insurance and FEMA but have to either live in hotels or rent a house or apartment at almost DOUBLE the pre-Katrina rates or live in their gutted homes while they try to piece things back together. There are still homes that some people have not touched either because they did not survive and no family members have taken care of it or they do not have the means to return or rebuild. Now don't get me wrong, it's not like we are in a third-world country out here. We have all of the modern conveniences that most cities have, but operating hours on most businesses have been shortened, like the 24-hour Walmart finaly started to stay open until 10pm a month or so ago. Another thing is that Because Saint Bernard Parish was and still is so just absolutely devastated, most of their residents now have relocated to Saint Tammany Parish which is the closest Parish to Saint Bernard that was habitable. Our Population has increased so much that the parish has had to put into effect their what was the ten-year plan for our roads and other such developments. the traffic is unbelievable. What used to take 15 minutes to get from place to place now takes 45-60. I am NOT at all trying to complain about the citizens of Saint Bernard being here, I used to live there and am glad that I have seen several of the people that I knew alive and making the best of this horrible thing that has happened to them, and this is a GREAT community, I would recommend anyone live here. Fortunately my home did not have the massive amounts of damage that most of the homes in our area had, but we did have some. Our insurance company claimed that we had not paid our premiums in over two years and would not cover ANY of the damged that were incurred. When we sent them the bank statements and paid checks that were sent to them, they did gives us a refund of the money, but thet did not in any way near compare to the amount it took to repair the damages. FEMA gave us $800 TOTAL. Not all of the evacuees got the $2000.00 that everyone talked about. Not that I think it's the governments responsibility to reimburse anyone for evacuating, but I also don't believe they should pick and choose who they are and are not goint ot help. Also, I was told that my house was unliveable by FEMA and was told that I would get a FEMA trailer. There were several trees in the way of where the trailer needed to be placed and to remove them costs about $1000.00 per tree. Because FEMA closed my case after only giving us the $800.00 to repair our "unliveable" home, we needed every dollar we could get to repair our home. We also had a rental house that was deemed by FEMA as unliveable. and it was way worse than ours. the floors are falling through. FEMA gave the tenants a FEMA trailer but they don't give money for "businesses" so unfortunately, they are still living in the trailer because there are no vacancies in the parish. And the rentals that are available have doubled or more in their prices. I am not looking for pitty with my story, mine is not unique at all, I just want to give people a glimpse of what life has been like for thousandsof people in our community. It is a sad thing what has happened here. And to think, our city has recovered the fastest, can you imagine what it's like elsewhere, where the schools haven't reopened and hospitals are still not up and running, the houses are still piled up on top of each other in some neighborhoods, etc...................