ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH, La. — A landscaping crew from Houston was in St. John Parish Sunday morning helping to clean-up several yards after Hurricane Ida hit LaPlace.
Several homes inside the Indigo Estates subdivisions received nearly two feet of water. Some first floors were gutted. There are piles of belongings, some ten feet high, outside every driveway in the community.
“Every single house… everyone just lost everything,” said Lorena Mercado-Hunter of Houston, who is working with Don A Cut Above the Rest landscaping. “There’s people that still haven’t even returned yet, and I can imagine why they don’t want to return… everything they’ve lost, they don’t want to come back and see what all they’ve lost and what they’ve worked for.”
Mercado-Hunter said she arrived on Friday and has already worked outside two other houses removing trees, and in one case, an entire shed.
“It’s heartbreaking but I’m glad I was able to come out here, make a little difference, help people out.”
Many homes in St. John Parish are still without power. Crews were seen on HWY 51 working on electrical wires to try and restore power.
For assistance with clean-up and tree removal, Don A Cut Above the Rest can be reached at 713-820-1839.
A New Orleans local also passed along information to WWL-TV offering assistance with fences and roofing. Erik Barrios with Promethean Remodeling can be reached at 832-863-1804.