September- Hurricane Ida Experience

Post Hurricane Ida

    I am born and (mostly) raised in Michigan. I moved to Louisiana in 2012 and this year was my first time ever experiencing a hurricane of this magnitude. My family safely evacuated to Texas, and we were all unsure of what would happen back home. Of course, during times like these, people are scared and nervous. What I did not expect was the amount of support that came with this experience. Everyone from Louisiana supported one another during this time whether it was emotional reasons, helping with food, medical supplies, throwing out all the trash. It was all amazing to see. We have churches, volunteer groups, and companies giving out free hot food to everyone that needs it. Louisiana residents lost their homes due to flooding or wind damage so it's great to see selfless acts of kindness. We are grateful that our home did not receive any damage nor did our neighbors. We were without electricity for a while after we came back from Texas. We had a generator that we used to power our home, so we shared it with our neighbors as well. Anything to get some fans going to cool down an area of the house or such. We were also able to share some of the hot foods with our neighbors. This is the only time I've spent getting to know our neighbors, so that's a positive. We are still doing what we can to help others. We have family friends that live in Laplace that were greatly affected by the storm, so my family will be going there to help with the kids and clean out what's left of their homes. We are all part of a big support system, and we stand united to help others in need. That is the lesson that I learned from this hurricane experience.