2021 is continuing the carnage from 2020. My name is Kayla, and my family and I just lost everything.

It seems no one suspected the remnants of Hurricane Ida coming our way would cause much damage. There was no warning from the state, or the news, until that evening when it was all too late. My mother, brother, our pets and I live in a very small ground level one-bedroom apartment. Everything we own had been strategically saved inside for years, and when the flooding came, everything was destroyed. Through the walls and the doors, rain, overflowed lake water and tons of sewage washed in like a raging river. We had to grab the essentials and rush our pets to safety through the raging thigh-high waters outside our front door. There was no saving anything. By morning, the waters receded and the damage was done.

All of our personal belongings, clothing, furniture, precious and personal items, pet things, destroyed by the flood and the sewage. The apartment itself, from the floor and the doors to the entire kitchen and our beds, unsalvageable. Our neighborhood and home was underwater and there was no possible way to know it was coming. 

As we rent our apartment and do not own it, we found ourselves stuck with the information that there is no flood insurance for us - nor any other kind of insurance. We won’t be getting any help with getting our life back. We will be displaced for at least one month, and in that time, we need help desperately to get our lives back together. 

Any possible donations, even small, will help so much in the long run. We are heartbroken and still in shock. It’s going to be a long road to normalcy, but I thank you in advance if you can be a part of getting us on that road. Thank you with all my heart, and be safe.