Nola Local, Hurricane Ida Relief Fund

Hurricane Ida. Category 4. One million people without power. Entire cities under roof-high water.

Here we are again, folks. The very same weekend as Hurricane Katrina, 16 years ago nearly to the hour, Louisiana and Mississippi have seen the worst of what Mother Nature has to offer.

I'm typing to you from the safety (and air-conditioning) of my parents house, in Birmingham, Alabama, but on good days, I actually reside in the French Quarter. New Orleans is my home, and it's been a city I've loved and written about for more than 2 decades.

We were going to stay for Ida, but decided at 6am on Saturday to throw the cat in the car and get the hell out of dodge. Now, I'm feeling all those mixed emotions that one has, watching the news as your town and your loved ones are taking the force of something so monstrous. Thankful I'm not there. Heartbroken I'm so far away.

I watched Dauphine Street flood for possibly the first time in the French Quarter's history last night.

We saw the roof come down on Decatur.

The above image is the Karnofsky Shop––where a kind family once loaned Louis Armstrong money for his very first cornet. It's now mere rubble on N. Rampart Street. (photo credit Gerald Herbert, AP)

These are the first images. There will be thousands more.

I know on my street alone, there are two power lines down.

The communications tower has fallen into the Mississippi River. Rumors abound that it will be not a week but more than a month before people have lights and air-conditioning, wi-fi and phone service.

This is NOT THE WORST.

Grand Isle looks like a horror movie; an ocean of water.

Lafitte––a place I often drove to for peaceful swamp walks and early morning photo shoots among the alligators––is now under 15 feet of water. Their levee held, but the waters rose above it.

The toll here will be catastrophic. There will be bodies found and the living won't ever return to the home they knew.

I'm starting this fundraiser to help people affected by this storm.

Who?

Anyone and everyone. In Nola and beyond.

We raised $25k in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Louisiana gave more than anyone, understanding the brutality better than the rest.

I know times are really tough. The hope is that people can spare a little.

I'm also offering to cover the 5% fee that GoFundMe takes to cover expenses with my own donation.

That means ... you give $5 ... then $5 fully goes to someone. Whatever we end up raising, I'll donate the overhead cost from this, back to the community.

I'm going to disperse this money the same way I did during Hurricane Sandy ... on foot through friends on the ground, to the people who need it. We will supply all those things under the sun -- from diapers to clean water, pet food to hotel stays. We will help people clean up. Rebuild. Find new footing. For as long as it takes.

Often, people wonder what happens to their donations.

I will keep steady updates posted here of the people we help and the stories they have to tell.

I'm not a 501c3. I'm just a regular human. I cannot give you a tax write-off, but I can give you assurance that your money will help someone in dire, dire need. A real person.

Long live the greatest town on Earth. After all ... "everywhere else is Cleveland."

Love,

Jenny Adams