[StBernard] Some rebuild homes and lives, others moving on A block in New Orleans tells story

[Westley Annis]

Some rebuild homes and lives, others moving on A block in New Orleans tells
story
November 21, 2006 12:50 am

By RUSTY DENNEN

CHALMETTE, La.--Evelyn Solis has lived on Plaza Drive in this New Orleans
suburb since 1986.

It's a street of small 1950s-vintage homes that sit within a mile or so of
two oil refineries.

One day last week, Solis was standing at the curb, tears streaming down her
face, as 16 volunteers with Hilltop Rescue & Relief began the long-awaited
task of cleaning out her home. It's been 15 months since Hurricane Katrina
swept through this neighborhood and she's been waiting patiently in her FEMA
trailer for someone to help her begin the slow process of rebuilding.

Solis, 51, works for a funeral home, so she is keenly aware of the death and
destruction in her neighborhood in the aftermath of the storm.

"I see it every day," she said with a sigh of resignation. 

But today, the storm clouds of her life have subsided, if for just a while,
and there is joy. All the filthy, molded drywall, flooring and ruined
personal belongings are coming out in overpiled wheelbarrows pushed by
students from a Christian school in Pennsylvania. They volunteered through
Hilltop to lend strong backs and hands at what seems an endless task. 

Though Solis has a heart condition, she's inside, swinging a hammer to get
the job done.

"I can't believe the day has come. They are so nice, and they care," she
said.

So far, she's been able to salvage her late father's wallet from a thick
blanket of hardened black mud that coated the floor, and his favorite coffee
mug.

Like all New Orleanians who rode out the storm, she has a harrowing and
hauntingly common story of survival.

On Aug. 30, 2005, the water came up and all she could think about was Elsie
Eber, her 73-year-old mother, who had moved in with her a year before the
storm. Solis says the hand of God provided her mom and her a life
preserver--her hope chest. As the waters rose shoulder high, they clung to
it until they were rescued by a boat. They wound up at the Super Dome with
two bottles of water and two bags of potato chips.

For now, the two look only toward the future.

When the volunteers finish, Solis will try to find a contractor or another
church group to help her rebuild. She knows it will be a long and draining
process.

"I know it's going to take awhile to get back in," she says.

The trailer, provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is
shelter, but far from a home.

Plaza Drive is an avenue of survivors who can't imagine living anywhere
else, though the signs of resignation and defeat surround them. Three houses
within the block have a large yellow banner with a big red "X" posted
prominently next to the doors, meaning they will be demolished.

Neighbors of Solis, James and Lubada Corley, both in their late 70s, have
lived here for over 30 years. Their house sits on the highest ground in
Chalmette and still they had flooding. Just a few blocks away, where the
land slopes down past Judge Perez Drive, water was 10 feet deep.

The Corleys' daughter came by as the storm was approaching and forced them
to evacuate. They wound up living in the Ozarks in Arkansas for five months,
returning to find that the high water had rotted the interior and ruined
their belongings. They're living in a FEMA trailer.

"We lost everything," he said. "It's rough. A year ago, I could have grinned
and got through it, but I can't no more."

In about a week, the Corleys and their 20-year-old dog will move to a new
house his son bought them not far away. He smiles: "I'm looking forward to
that. I want a home big enough to chase a cat and can't catch him."

Corley will be leaving a lot of memories: He worked at the Kaiser Aluminum
plant not far away, which closed in the 1980s. The neighborhood, he says, is
friendly and people look out for each other.

"I know most of them. I don't socialize a lot, but I knew them," he said.

Two houses down from the Corleys are Mary and Achille Fink, who moved here
in 1976.

"It's a pretty nice place," she allowed. But she also knows things are
changing. With houses being demolished and "For Sale" signs up all around.

Most others are hell-bent to stay. One sign is the brown Hurwitz Mintz
furniture truck that pulls up at Catherine Stefano's place a few houses
down. 

"She's been waiting for furniture for six to seven weeks," says her
son-in-law, Ronald Richards Sr.

Harry Roberson, 57, the driver of the truck, works a lot of overtime
delivering furniture in Mississippi and Louisiana.

"They love to see us coming," he laughs.

Alan Pettijohn, 51, whose parents lived next to Solis, wasn't expecting any
deliveries.

He's closing a chapter of his family's connection to Chalmette; cleaning out
his late parents' belongings. The large frame house will be torn down.




To reach RUSTY DENNEN:540/374-5431
Email: rdennen at freelancestar.com 



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Copyright 2006 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.