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Grandmother of Seven Recounts Story of Recovery After Hurricane Katrina

Miss Elouise Kensey, a native of New Orleans, La. and a Hurricane Katrina victim, now resides in Baton Rouge, La. This strong woman, who was already battling leukemia before Katrina struck, was fortunate enough to be traveling when the storm ripped into the Gulf Coast and her home.

“I have custody of my seven grandchildren,” she said, “and had we stayed somebody would have died. A tree fell on the house. We were lucky, blessed, however you want to call it.”

While Miss Elouise was grateful for escaping with her life and the lives of her grandchildren, the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina and ensuing flood waters made her home uninhabitable. Returning to New Orleans was not an option.  Along with the seven grandchildren under her care, she migrated to Texas for three months before returning back to Louisiana and finding a place in Baton Rouge.

“I have been very fortunate and blessed for people to give me things in Texas where I was,” she said. “The church gave me furniture and money and food, and when I got here, the Islamic Relief also helped me a lot with food and blankets and pots and toiletries. You know they helped me a lot. Sometimes money was short, but it always came, things that I needed I always got it.”

Since their journey back to Louisiana, they have been able to find some stability. The family recently moved into a home not far from the two-bedroom apartment the eight occupied for over a year. Even though Miss Elouise lost her home and her possessions during the hurricane, she still considers herself more fortunate than others.

“We’re doing great right now, we’re blessed,” she said. “We lost everything, but we gained much more. Some people had much worse stories, sad stories, but mine is a happy one. I know people who have sad stories, lost family, lost their minds, a whole lot of things, but I was strong, I made it.”