Hi everyone. On August 29th, my mother, Nancy and sister Pat McClelland experienced Hurricane Ida’s extreme wind devastation and severe flooding at Pat’s home in Barataria, southern Louisiana. Thankfully, they were evacuated and safe while riding out the hurricane, but sadly her home was not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you that know my sister Pat, you know she would not ask for help, so, as Pat’s sister, I am doing what I can to support her in this extremely difficult time. Having lived through a hurricane myself, I understand what it takes to rebuild a community to where you can recover your business back to support a productive living and normal life. It is difficult when your home has been damaged to the extent that your comfort and security are challenged by having to live in a damaged home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat’s home and downstairs apartment had flooding, approximately 4 feet high, of brackish muddy water that surged from their river, pushed up from the gulf by the hurricane, passing through her neighborhood, and her bottom floor Air BnB apartment, laundry room, tool/storage shed, pool, dock, front porch and garden. Ruining thousands of dollars worth of possessions and furniture, kitchen counters and cupboards, walls, television set, both her car and truck, household equipment and possessions, including 2 washers and 2 dryers, 2 refrigerators and 2 deep freezers that stored hundreds of dollars worth of food for her home chef business, a stove, dishwasher, air conditioners, hot water heater, electrical wiring, lighting, generator, and an irreplaceable family heirloom that used to be grandpa’s old antique coin machine.

 

 

 

 

So far, Pat has had her friends volunteer to help clean up and strip her downstairs apartment apart so that she can bleach it before black mold sets in. Not much is salvageable.

 

 

 

 

Her upstairs had parts of the roof that blew away, allowing hurricane rain damage that soaked insulation in both of her upstairs bedrooms, causing the wet drywall ceiling to fall in on top of mom’s bed, soaking the mattress and flooding the floor and downstairs apartment ceiling.

 

 

Though most of the wind damage in the upstairs is covered with insurance, the flood damage was not covered.

 

We are asking for help from our friends now. For funds to help Pat replace what couldn’t be insured in the flood, which was most everything in her bottom floor apartment and laundry room which is a vital part of her income. And, to help her cover monthly living expenses while she is not able to work at her home chef business and while Barataria rebuilds vital infrastructure, including the bridge to her home, hit by a barge, and while their neighborhood replaces their gas infrastructure after a leak burned down six homes nearby. This is estimated to take a year to complete.

 

 

Thank you in advance for any consideration. It has been a difficult year for our mom after loosing our dad two months before, having just moved to Pat’s home, with every possession in their container, that floated away in the floodwaters, and is now half buried in mud in a neighbor’s yard. Please help my sister as she deals with putting the pieces of her life back together and so that she can help support our mother as well. Any financial support that you can give will be greatly appreciated. All funds raised will go to Pat McClelland. Thank you. ❤️