Family marks hurricane Katrina by closing on new home

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (9/1/06)--A New Orleans credit union family marked this week's one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a milestone of its own: closing on a new home.

Michele Merle Lacour, vice president of growth services, LA DOTD FCU, Denham Springs, La., updated News Now on what had happened to her family since she, her mother Cathey Merle and sister Melissa Merle were featured in Credit Union Magazine's December issue coverage on the hurricane.

Melissa had lived with her parents in Chalmette--in St. Bernard's Parish. Their house, her aunts' houses and four cousins' homes were destroyed in the flooding and oil spill after Katrina. As a result, Melissa and her parents moved in with Lacour's family--for 11 months.

The Merle family home, filled with mold and oil sludge, also was looted. Someone chopped the bedroom furniture to pieces. The only things they salvaged were Cathey Merle's amaryllis plants from her mother.

Thursday, though, both Melissa and her parents closed on new homes.

They are lucky. Lacour's parents will live only two minutes from Lacour. Melissa will live in nearby Walker, La., closer to her nursing job at a children's hospital in New Orleans. Their aunts and cousins have settled in Picayune, Miss., where they found new jobs.

"Our house was gutted by some wonderful college students from Wisconsin who came down to help in early spring," Lacour told News Now. The family hasn't sold the property yet; it's waiting for results from an upcoming trial concerning the oil spill to see if there are revisions in what's offered homeowners. The Louisiana Recovery agency offered the Merles $19,000 for the property.

To help recover financially from the damages, Lacour's father left retirement and worked as a safety foreman at various jobs in the industrial area for seven months.

When they were homeless, the family doubled up, two families per location in three homes. Not much was available for rent. Doubling up helped them save expenses.

"I was blessed that I was able to offer shelter to my parents and sister," Lacour said. At one time seven people lived in her small house. "The lack of privacy was hard."

Also hard was fighting the insurance companies on their claims and getting consistent--and correct--information from federal agencies. At one point, they were ready to close on a home, only to find that the agency said their paperwork wasn't correct and wasn't in the system. "Their PC wasn't hooked up and they were having to call the agency."

So the family decided to buy the homes with cash out of retirement savings and pay back the savings with the loan funds, when they get them.

"It really sharpened my negotiation skills," said Lacour, adding should could not imagine what elderly people did if they didn't have someone to persistently advocate and negotiate on their behalf. The family is "still fighting with the insurance agency over what is flood damage and what is wind damage," Lacour said.

The family also is worried about potential identity theft. "After the house was gutted, we found my sister's insurance card with her Social Security number lying in the debris. So we're monitoring her accounts for possible ID theft.

With the new homes, the family is viewing the one-year mark of the hurricane as a fresh start.

"We've been treading water for a year. It took a long time for the initial shock to wear off," Lacour said. "It's been a long year, but this is a new beginning. We've dealt with it--and made the best of it."

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Resource Links
Statement stuffer: What to Keep and What to Throw Away
CUNA ID Theft Resources
News Now Related Stories: Hurricanes 2005


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