sam_portera Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Ive posted pics from our house here. http://www.samuelportera.com/gallery/albums.php Thanks to all for the kind emails and donations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Yuck. Hope you are not cought in the trap where they call this flood damage and the government maps from 1979 don`t put you in a flood plane so there is no flood insurance. Best of luck and my sympathy. I would not go back there as there is nothing to keep it from happening again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_tolley2 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 OMG! The insides look totalled. Is the house itself going to be ok? Multiply this times about 500,000 but it's still difficult to imagine that much destruction. Do you know Dennis C? He lives in Lakeside and I'm not sure if he is back in his home yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_portera Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 I have corresponded with Dennis, we were supposed to have coffee and go shooting, but that never happened. Have heard from him since the storm. I did see his pic in B&W magazine yesterday, I hope he is well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_portera Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 that should read "have not heard from him...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_portera Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 Ronald , I do not plan to return to St. Bernard parish to live. I want to be north of the lake so that we never have to do this again. Of 30,000 residents there almost homes are "unrecoverable" only 6600 people had flood insurance luckily I was one that did. Still no checks from insurance though, and the parish president said he has enough money to pay the police and fire fighters for one more month. After that if no money is sent there it will be a ghost town. Already have no, power,water, sewage, phones or any type of infrastructure. The police are the only one holding any kind of order. I am return on Saturday to get a few more items from my house, you can't tell from the photos but there is 1.5 feet of mud and it makes finding anything very difficult. Kent The ceiling on the inside seems to sagging a bit, I guest the salt water did more damage than I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_doyle Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Just awful Sam, I can't imagine what I'd do in a situation such as this. You're a tough cookie me thinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_m__toronto_ Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 some ugly pictures, but on the lighter side, i love the 'garden of the month photo' :) i also find the 'keep the faith, we will rebuild' sign, with jesus christ above quite ironic or mixed messaging. was it not jesus who said a wise man builds his house upon a rock and a foolish man builds on sand, and must rebuild time and time again? you'll come out alright. only material damages i hope? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 My goodness, Sam. <p><p> In a sense I'm glad you posted these, though I use the word "glad" with real hesitation. I've said before that even the extensive, and in some cases, deeply flawed coverage we saw from afar didn't really show what happened. Photos such as yours reinforce the truth, and expose the devastation.<p><p> I remember fairly early on that one governor (probably Gov Barbour) said in reference to one area of his state that houses there were not damaged, they were "just gone." Aerial photos showed he was correct.<p><p> So many other houses are probably a great deal like yours -- shells with foundations but thoroughly ruined inside. And I imagine these structures don't like "wet feet." Damage and decay continue even after the standing water is gone.<p><p> I completely understand your desire to rebuild your life away from the likely path of the next deluge. I hope that happens on a tolerable timetable for your family.<p><p> Reminded here of an old phrase I heard many times from my Dad: "G_d grant me patience. ...... But grant it NOW!"<p><p> I've been in touch with Dennis since the storm. His place is <a href=http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DisD>not habitable either</a>. After a short stretch in a motel, I think he's been shuttling around to homes of family members, some of whom are in other states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_neuthaler Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Sam, I am so sorry. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subpopstar Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 The destruction is incomprehensible. Even now, knowing what the news images have shown us, seeing the individual stories is powerful. The complete and utter destruction is remarkable and visually devastating. Amazing Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark cortella Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Look at it this way Sam,you and your family were not there when it happened. I hope everything works out for you. Several of my friends in NO weren't as lucky,their houses are gone,but they got the valuable stuff out in time and left. They aren't going back either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opc Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Sam: I am sorry for your losses. I am in Covington. If I can be of any help, email me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben z Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Sam, I'm speechless. What a nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gup Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Thanks, Sam. Many of us need to be reminded of what we have, and these photos do that. Wishing you and yours all the best in the future. Gup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd_phillips1 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Sam, I hope for you, a speedy recovery from this (it that is possible). I'm glad you had the flood insurance and I'm sure a check will be on it's way. Best of luck from someone who, not having been there, could never understand what you may be going through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Looks like my darkroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph_barbano Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I am so sorry for you and your family. Where do you begin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_white2 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Sam, I'm glad you're not moving back. And I hope enough people make the same choice so that New Orleans isn't rebuilt. Let the sea take it back. And get rid of the levies along the Mississippi so that the normal flooding can resume and the land will be regenerated. Living below sea level just makes no sense. And this is the proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_r._fulton_jr. Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 An unimaginable nightmare. All the best!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_portera Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Thank you one and all for the kind words. I'm glad to hear Dennis is ok and made it out. Ive taken some B&W but it will be some time before I can dev. and print them. I think Peter said it best. Let the Mississippi River regenerate the land, the maybe make a city there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Well, Peter, when the Louisiana government misspends almost every dollar they get, you have to expect these things. Of the almost 150 big pumps in NO, less than 40 were operational when the storm hit, despite funds being allocated to repair them two years ago! Prominent politicians went on TV and said they never expected this, but every authority who has actually looked at the information available before the hurricane said this was inevitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdnyc Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Sam, I'm amazed at these pictures. I usually take pictures of things I want to remember. It must be incredibly difficult for you to see your home in this condition and must have required an act of will to photograph it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 The slab of this summer house is 24 feet above sea level. the storm surge came up 3 feet above the slab; with waves at least 3 to 5 feet higher at the peak. Once a propane tank went thru the family room's storm boards; the water freely splashed books; items such as clocks that were 5 and 6 feet above the slab. Getting water 29 feet in one's house/rental is not just a sealevel problem. Your house maybe a hell of alot higher than the flood plan maps. Here the house is 7 to 9 feet above the 100 year storm zone that the insurance companies use. One maybe paying 1200 per year on home insurance; with no flood coverage. Thus to get these "cheap rates" one has a 3500 buck deductable. A new roof is 7000; the adjuster pro rates the old roof as 4000; you get 500 bucks in the claim; and probably an increase in policy rates next year. Since the propane tank's damage to the windows was due to the flood; the insurance companies take no coverage. Just like a good neighbor; the insurance twists not to may anything out if they have too. Still eating MRE's; had Menu NO 6 Chicken Fajita tonight. The first image is when the water was about 12 feet over sea level; the second is when the neighbors AC unit was hanging on by the copper freon lines; with water about 2 to 3 feet deep betwwen the houses.SAM; hope all is OK; the cleanup not understood much by non hurricane folks><BR><BR><BR><BR><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010024CropACunits.jpg"><BR><BR> <img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010037acunit.jpg"><BR><BR><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010039afterstormpeak.jpg"><BR><BR><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010046lowresversion.jpg"><BR><BR><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010044Kitchenwindow.jpg"><BR><BR><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010046crap.jpg"><BR><BR><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/KATRINA/P1010044crap.jpg"> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 not to <b>PAY</b> anything out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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