NEW ORLEANS — Coming back from a doctor’s appointment, it takes Rosalyn Raford a few minutes to get her 79-year-old mother Louise into her transport chair.
Rolling her up the ramp is an uphill struggle made worse by the overgrown lot that will soon block their path completely.
“This is it. It usually be all covered here,” Raford said. “It’s growing and eventually, if I don’t stop it, it’s going to come over!”
She says she’s had this problem since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
Trees and weeds as high as her house with all story of animals hiding in them.
“We have rats, we have raccoons, we have armadillos, we have snakes,” she said. “We have snakes shedding their skin in our yard! That’s how bad it is.”
And it’s not just one lot, she’s surrounded.
"The man, he does come, and it’s been a few weeks,” Raford said. “but all this needs to be cut down.”
Not only is she taking care of her mother, but her disabled husband is confined to a bed. Jessie Raford wishes he could do more for his wife.
"Before I got like this, I used to cut the grass and I used to keep it off the fence, from coming over the yard,” he said. “But once I got like this -- we got to pay somebody to do it."
For Raford, the stress is a heavy load.
"It's a tiring situation. I tell you I've been going through it for so long,” she said. “And then I work, you know, on top of that."
She’s reached out to the city for help, but says that doesn’t go very far. So we followed up for her.
City officials tell us their lot abatement team will do a site assessment Thursday morning. After the assessment is done, they’ll give the owner a timeline for when something can be done.
Raford hopes it comes soon so she can take care of her mother and husband without having to worry about what’s lurking next door.