Baton Rouge Flood

When Floods Happen to Good People My first taste of a natural disaster on a personal level was this week. Monday night our home took in 1.5 feet of water. It happened so incredibly fast. We evacuated “just to be safe” on Monday morning. I just knew that we were overreacting and that we would be back home the next day. All day Monday I kept up with social media from people in the area so I could track the water levels. Family members that live close to us would send me photos of our home so I could get hourly updates on where things stood. Monday seemed to go on forever. By 7:00 pm I was at the point...

We Are The Helpers When disaster strikes, we see the true humanity of the people around us. It is our natural desire to want to help those in need. And all of us play different roles and help in different ways. All of those roles are important and necessary on the long road to recovery. Many of us identify with several or even all of these, but nearly all of us fall into at least one. The Rescuers: These people are heroes! They are the ones who run into the danger instead of away from it. We saw our law enforcement officers, firefighters, and National Guard jumping into action as soon as the flooding began. But, we also saw something amazing. Thousands...

It's Just Stuff, but It's Okay to Cry Baton Rouge is starting to get back into our homes to assess damage, salvage anything still usable, and begin to gut and clean. Pictures of rooms with shifted and toppled furniture and soggy sheet rock are starting to fill my personal Facebook newsfeed. Captions to these pictures are mostly some version of "It's just stuff, we're okay, we're together, we're thankful." Yes, it's just stuff, and most stuff can be replaced, but so much of it has value far beyond what money can buy. Our homes are more than dwelling places. We arrange and decorate and build to reflect who we are and what we value. Our homes are where we bring our...

The Incomparable Beauty of Community To say that South Louisiana has had a rough month would be an understatement. In July, we felt the fear and heartbreak of a deadly assault on our police. Less than one month later, we are attempting to pick up the pieces of an entire region ravaged by unprecedented flooding. In my neighborhood, the image of blue ribbon attached to an almost completely submerged mailbox bears witness to the fact that we have not yet recovered from one tragedy before facing the next. But true to our culture, Louisiana is proving its resilience, empowered by the strength of its communities. After the police attack, we witnessed support and fundraising like we had never seen before to assist the families...

Sights and Sounds of the Storm Day One You awake to sounds of what seems like a war zone. You immediately feel some nervousness and begin to realize the loud booming noise is not a bomb, but thunder. Thunder like you have never heard before. Then the sound of the down pour comes. Rain some people listen to on sound machines to relax is now anything but. You think the rain will soon stop, but hour after hour it beats on the windows and sides of your home. Unable to get out, you rely on the news, and begin to see the effects of all you have heard. Day Two Well aware that your community is in a state of emergency, you watch...