Gawd, has it really been a month since I last posted! Anyone out there? Well its my own fault, but the last month has been exceptionally busy (funny how one seems to pay extra for those vacations!). So much has happened. I guess I'll start with a family update...
My parents are staying with me in Chicago through the holidays and are moving to the Smoky Mountains afterwards. They are among the fortunate few (reportedly one of only 5,000 of 225,000 claims) who have already received their flood insurance payout. They are still wrangling with State Farm over the "non-flood" damage (and will probably have to sue them). However, they are able to move on with their lives with the money they have received.
My sister and her family are back in New Orleans. Their home escaped with minor wind damage and Gretna has all the necessary services up and running. They are still deciding whether to stay or go.
When I returned from Australia, we took a road trip down to New Orleans for a salvage mission to my parents' home. We had gotten reports from family members in New Orleans that, despite the incredible damage to the home, there was much that we could salvage. This was particularly true of the second floor, which was largely untouched. The front door was missing and the fear of looters drove us with an extra sense of urgency to get there quickly.
Here's what we found:
From the marks on the walls, I figure the water reached a peak depth (inside) of 6-7 feet and settled around 4 feet. And we must consider ourselves lucky and blessed. There were nearby areas with over 15 feet of water. In most of the house, the drywall was completely dissolved below the 4-foot mark. Miraculously, most of my parents' crystal, china, paintings and silverware plus many heirlooms were salvaged intact. We loaded up a bunch of plastic tubs with the dirty goods and transported them back to Chicago. Some things will need to be professionally restored (particularly the paintings), but I was able to spend a couple of weeks in the garage cleaning and disinfecting the bulk of the salvaged goods.
After inspecting the house, I firmly believe that the home is readily salvageable if gutted and aired out. The structure of the home is solid. However, until the city gets its act together in New Orleans East, everything is in limbo and its not worth spending any effort on cleanup. Why clean if they may force you to demolish the home because of new (as yet undisclosed) building codes or insurance requirements? The longer they wait, the less likely it is that anyone will stay.
Oops! I'm not in the mood to rant and rave about the complete political stupidity down there yet, but its coming....
