Donald has seen storms before. But this one could prove a tipping point

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Donald Caesar, Jr., 49, stands in front of a pile of garbage. That’s what’s left of his family’s home a month after Hurricane Ida ripped through LaPlace, La.





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Pastor Pedro Rivera and congregation member Juan Ortega take stock of the damage at Iglesia Pentecostal Providencia Divina two days after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana. It is a total loss.





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A longtime member of the Iglesia Pentecostal Providencia Divina blesses another church member at the makeshift church in Pastor Rivera’s home in early October.





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National
New Orleans Levees Passed Hurricane Ida’s Test, But Some Suburbs Flooded

Hotard noted that a local levee system got funding in 2018, and that it will be a game changer for the parish once it’s constructed. But it is scheduled to be completed in 2024 — after several hurricane seasons have passed.

Other residents noted that LaPlace routinely floods — but also said the floods were becoming worse. Climate change is likely to make hurricanes intensify more rapidly, grow more powerful and drop more rain.

«When you look at … some of the storms that are hitting, it’s a serious situation,» said Mills, the FEMA representative. He says when it comes to staying or leaving in a hurricane zone, «these are tough questions for communities to answer.»

Thousands in the parish have asked for help from FEMA. But Mills said the agency cannot give money to people if they have home or flood insurance. Mills said FEMA was doing its best to help, but said its role was to offer a helping hand in a crisis — not to help people rebuild if they didn’t have insurance.

«A lot of people are going to rely on the good work of charitable voluntary and faith-based organizations that are actively working in a lot of communities,» Mills said.

Rivera’s church is trying to fill some of those gaps. Her family is using their backyard to prepare food for distribution in the community. Rivera admits with so much loss, she sometimes imagines leaving LaPlace.

For the time being, Rivera and her congregation are staying. In fact, they’re renting space from another local church.

«I was praying and I was like, you know, I don’t have a reason to stay,» Rivera said. «[But] I love these people. I love the ministry.»

Much of Donald Caesar Jr.’s family has left LaPlace, including his 82-year-old uncle, who is staying in Baton Rouge. While his uncle would like to return, he cannot come back until his home can be fixed or he finds a new place to live. That could take months or even a year.

But Caesar says he can’t imagine leaving. He’ll continue walking up and down the street he grew up on, surveying his home and the stump of his family’s hundred-year-old tree, waiting for help to arrive.

This is where he’s been all his life and it’s all he knows, he said. And he believes his family will come back too.

«They’re resilient people. They’re going to come back; they’re going to rebuild,» Caesar said. «The tree might not be. The house will be back.»

Caesar said it’s just a matter of when they can all start picking up the pieces.

This story was produced with reporters from the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between WWNO in New Orleans, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama and NPR. Support for health equity coverage comes from the Commonwealth Fund.