A ceiling fan in Carmel's home shows the extent of the damage - the blades warped by Katrina's floodwaters.

Students from Nebraska Wesleyan University pose with Carmel outside her home.

CHALMETTE, La. - When 76-year-old Carmel evacuated with relatives in August last year, she packed a few items from her Chalmette home. Carmel, like many other Louisiana residents, thought she would return in a day or two. She never imagined that Katrina would destroy her home, car and town of Chalmette located in St. Bernard parish - one of the hardest-hit regions in the New Orleans area.

"It’s like a ghost town. There’s no doctors, there’s no grocery stores," said Carmel, who underwent hip replacement surgery two years ago. She was ordered by her doctors not to return to her house, which had been under water for two weeks following Katrina.

Carmel, a divorced retired nurse with no children, did not have the finances to gut her home and learned about Operation Blessing while staying with a friend in Slidell, Louisiana. And when OBI sent a team of 20 student volunteers from Nebraska Wesleyan University to gut her home, she decided to meet the students, despite her doctor’s advice.

"I pulled up and I saw a whole bunch of kids. I burst out crying . . . they were absolutely wonderful. I have no family of my own. So the Lord just brought those kids," Carmel said, choking back tears. "Those kids would take their spring vacation to do this . . . it just touched me so much that Operation Blessing is still here because people down here are still suffering. They’re still here."

When the students entered Carmel’s home, it was as though the hurricane had just happened. "We were told there could be snakes," said Chris, team leader, 22, of Nebraska Wesleyan University. "Everything was molded. Everything had flood damage. The sewage had backed up in the sinks. The dish washer still had dishes in it. When we saw that, it kind of overwhelmed us. It showed us that she thought she would be back the next day. It’s nothing you could ever prepare for," he said.

Carmel was so impressed with OBI’s student volunteers that she called the university and OBI headquarters. "I called the school and asked to talk to the principal. I said someone has to know," she said.

"I had planned on going to Texas with friends, and then this opportunity came up," said Charis, 20, of Nebraska Wesleyan. "The day we cleaned her house, the Red Cross stopped and served us lunch. They were amazed that college kids were coming down there and giving up trips to Cancun," she added.

As for Carmel’s home and future plans, she says she will continue to stay with her friend in Slidell and hopes to sell her former home if possible. With post-Katrina housing and rental prices soaring, Carmel said she can no longer afford a place by herself. "I was born and raised in New Orleans and only evacuated once in my life. You think you will be back the next day. Now, it’s seven months and I will never be back to that particular house in my life," she said.

"I always believed in Operation Blessing, but I had no concept of what ya’ll do and how ya’ll stick to it. It’s going be a year almost and ya’ll are still here," she added.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

 

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