PONCHATOULA, La. – The Twin Oaks subdivision of Ponchatoula has suffered a special kind of hurt in this recent, historic flood. It’s the second time most of these homes have taken on water in the past five months.
They were hit, along with a lot of Tanigpahoa, St. Tammany and Washington Parishes during the river flooding in March.
The Brescher family was one of them. They consider themselves flood cleanup pros. This one, hurts especially bad because they had just gotten back to a semblance of normalcy in their home after the March cleanup.
“We were already back in the home and buying furniture and then we flooded again – 31 inches,” said Kaycee Brescher.
She said the family wants out, but she knows it won’t be easy.
“Who would buy (here)?” she asked. “We think about renting but that’s against our HOA to rent out homes, so I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Many of her neighbors feel the same way. Jill Willie had not yet moved back in. Now she says she won’t.
“I don’t think we’re going to stay,” she said. “We can’t go through this again.”
In the Robert area of Tangipahoa Parish, dozens of families took a break from their work with a hot meal served by a Covington church.
During the downtime, some reflected on the déjà vu of having their lives out on their front lawns for the second time in less than half a year.
“That was a record flood I guess and hopefully we can go another 100 years without seeing that kind of water again,” said Barry Oncale. “The fact that it was within five months makes me a little nervous, but born and raised in Louisiana, I don't plan on going anywhere else. We'll get it done.”