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The couple have been told it could be weeks before they return home.
AUSTIN, Texas – Like thousands of Louisiana people who fled New Orleans to nearby cities before Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 storm, a couple is now taking shelter in Austin.
Madison O’Malley and Blake Corley, a couple from Uptown New Orleans, stay with their boyfriend in Austin without knowing when to return to their New Orleans home. The couple were about to move into their brand new home, but that was put on hold due to Hurricane Ida.
KVUE interviewed the couple about their experiences.
Tori Larned: “First of all, how are you two right now? And just explain to me what’s going on over there with you. “
Blake Corley: “Well, everything happened so quickly. It was originally a tropical storm and the work was canceled late [Friday] Afternoon. They said if we had evacuation plans we could go. We really thought those of us who left, maybe it was a little bit silly. I’m glad we did because the hurricane was much more intense than we thought. “
Madison O’Malley: In the end I picked him up from work and we left on Friday. Our normal travel time would have been about two hours to our destination and we were stuck between five and six hours just to get to Baton Rouge. On the way we went west again towards Austin, but only a lot of traffic and long driving times. “
Corley: “We originally expected to stay in Houston just because I grew up between New Orleans and Houston. Where I grew up was evacuated voluntarily. When we got to Houston there was no place to stay. It was absolutely crazy friend Ally, who lives here in Austin around midnight, and we said, ‘Can we stay with you?’ We arrived in Austin around 3:30 am. So it was absolutely crazy. “
Larned: “You two have been through a lot. Do you know how your home in New Orleans is doing?”
Corley: “So we have a little idea. Most of the people I know were evacuated at the last minute when we realized it was going to be Category 3, which was Katrina. Then it became Category 4. I had a girlfriend , who was a nurse, so she couldn’t go, so she could go to my house this afternoon. I actually just bought this house and haven’t even moved in. I’m moving on Wednesday so very scared of it. Unfortunately, there was from Minor damage at home, some shingles from the roof and things like that, a tree fell over, the fence blew away. Lots of people around us weren’t so lucky. Many of my colleagues who live south of New Orleans are as we understand them essentially the people just walking around trying to see who else is out there. The part of New Orleans that you and I live in has a lot of trees falling. The power is obviously completely out and about a million people are currently out of power notifications we get on our phone from the city of New Orleans they told us that once we are evacuated we don’t expect us to be home anytime soon. Friends we have who work for the energy company said it will take about three weeks to a month for electricity to be restored. “
Larned: “Have you started working on a plan for yourself until you return and what you will do in the meantime?”
Corley: “I think the coronavirus really prepared us for something like this because everything was isolated for so long. I also think I grew up in Louisiana, and so do you [O’Malley] Having lived here for an extended period of time, we are so concerned every hurricane season that we are always prepared for the worst. I think the best way to just go through this is to just live in the now. Right now we are here. At the moment we know how the condition of my house is. At the moment we know the power situation and to just get on with life we only know how to do it: work, school. That’s all you can really do in a situation like this. “
Ö‘Malley: “I think there is a lot planned at the moment about how we can do repairs and how we can bring that together.”
Corley: “This really is the hardest part of all of this, the aftermath, the work after the storm. Louisiana is no stranger to disasters and losses. Just last year, the southwestern part of our state was decimated by Hurricane Laura. What We Have Learned “It’s really the aftermath that is the worst. It’s how you deal with the insurance companies. It’s about making a claim. If only there is one piece of advice I can give to anyone here in Austin or anywhere in the country.” who has been evacuated, find local people who can take pictures of your damage, find your homeowner’s insurance policy, start documenting what happened after the storm, cause this will not be an easy path We have to be our own advocates, We learned that from Katrina, we learned from Laura, we really have to fight for ourselves to get the resources we need for the Wied need building.
Larned: “You two lived there, Blake, 10 years, Laura, seven years, which means that you have seen or been around hurricanes in the last few years, so where does it fall in relation to what you have experienced? “
O’Malley: “I think that crept up on us a lot, and I think we didn’t think it was going to be such a big storm. I’ve never had to go through a mandatory evacuation. I know it was kind of too late.” because of the timeframe of it, but it sure felt that way just because of the situation leaving town. “
Corley: “I’ve lived in Louisiana all my life. I grew up in the Southwest and by far I think this is definitely the worst storm we’ve ever experienced. Fortunately, I think we’re better prepared as a people. Even if we did you are walking through New Orleans you will now see all of our neighbors walking down the streets helping each other. I think we are just more attuned to this type of situation. So maybe it’s not as dramatic as what happened in the past A Category 4 hurricane that hit us and destroyed our power grid is definitely a more significant event than I’ve ever witnessed. We weren’t under a mandatory evacuation due to the time frame and as the Mayor, Mayor Cantrell, told the time Didn’t run for us She couldn’t legally issue a mandatory evacuation, but in every way, I mean, we were under a mandatory evacuation g, which is really scary. “
Larned: “What can people do to help you?”
Corley: “I think, and that’s the biggest thing, don’t forget Louisiana. As soon as the cameras go off and the next story unfolds, don’t forget us. Like I said, the journey and the hard part is really we’re just getting started, and we’re really going to need everyone in the country, our neighbors in Texas, who are really on our side and help us get our members of Congress to allocate resources for the people affected provide absolutely everything and we really don’t know the death toll. We don’t even know what it looks like now. So I think look at us collectively, look at us as your neighbors, look at us as fellow citizens and just imagine what you would need in our place. And don’t forget us. “
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