LAPLACE, La. — One year ago Genell Labranch was in Laplace, living in her car with her special needs brother and accepting food from Good Samaritans.
It was the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and she had been left with a ruined home and nowhere to go.
But it's a year later now and she says she feels hope from all of those who have helped her out, including WWL-TV's story that showed her plight.
“I feel much blessed, peace of mind. My peace coming back slowly, but surely coming back," said Labranch.
There's a new roof on her mobile home. The mold has been cleaned, but there is a long way to go, with floors and ceilings still in need of repair. One workman is fixing it in between jobs. Still, she is grateful.
“It's a struggle, but I take it one day at a time. I can't complain. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm way better than I was at first. And I thank God, and I thank FEMA for helping me, and everybody else that helped me, and donated money to me. I appreciate it,” said Labranch.
Not far from Genell is Harold Delay. You remember him, the big Saints fan. He was living in his den with holes in the roof over the bedrooms. Today there is progress.
His home is 80 percent completed.
"Sometimes you really just can't think about it. You just get in the moment and you just proceed to do what it takes to get back to normal,” said Delay.
He has an attitude of gratitude as well.
“I was fortunate. I thank God for that you know. I did have enough to kind of like get my house you know all, complete. It's not all the way complete now,” said Delay.
St. John the Baptist Parish President, Jaclyn Hotard says they marked the anniversary Saturday with 200 volunteers helping repair still damaged homes.
“The work isn't going to be done until everyone is in their home and restored. We are going to recover from this. We keep saying our community is resilient, but we are, you can leave Southeast Louisiana, but where will you go? And the food won't taste good,” said Hotard
The spirit in Laplace shows the resilience. It also shows that perfect or imperfect, there is still no place like home. And hurricane anniversaries and the emotions that go along with them, are nothing to celebrate.
“It just came back to me,” Labranch said when she woke up this morning. I just felt depressed all over again, and I'm praying, Lord please don't let no more come back through here. No more storms.”
St. John the Baptist Parish line for information: 985-652-9569
Long Term Recovery volunteer group: 985-703-8411
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