LOCKPORT, La. — A volunteer who helped families in the bayou region after Hurricane Ida is now a storm victim himself.
Robert Price and a disaster team from his church were among the first relief groups offering help to families along Bayou Lafourche after the storm.
He’s now one of the scores of people who lost homes when a powerful tornado tore through Mayfield, Kentucky on Friday.
Jamie Marlbrough is Price’s cousin. She lives in Lockport.
“I’m at a loss for words because it’s like, what are the odds? They lost their home,” Marlbrough said.
Her husband Darryl says Price and his crew arrived a day after Ida struck and hit the ground running.
“Very selfless people,” Darryl Marlbrough said. “They went out and they got us taken care of immediately and when we were okay, they went down the bayou and just started helping. They had some flooding down in the Larose, Cut Off, Delta Farm area. They immediately started pumping people’s houses out. They were squeegeeing people’s homes for them, bringing toothpaste, you name it, they had it.”
Now it’s Price and his community that need help.
Deacon Tommy Trant from the First Baptist Church in Lockport says Price helped him put a tarp on his roof.
“You don’t have to know them,” Trant said. “People are hurting and down and out like we are down here right now. A lot of people came here to help us.”
The Marlbroughs started a GoFundMe account for Price and his family.
“These people got hit hard and we know what it’s like,” Darryl Marlbrough said. “We’re on the back end, still rebuilding. They’re about to go through what we’ve been going through for the past three months. Let’s do what we can do to try and help them.”
Jamie Marlbrough says her cousin and his church brought more than help to the bayou community after the storm, they brought hope. Her and her neighbors are now hoping to repay the favor.
“We lived this, and we know, watching them go through it and they just came to help us,” she added. “It’s very heartbreaking for me see them do that because they’re good people.”
Money from the GoFundMe account will be used to help Price rebuild his home and buy new tools for his construction company.