Hurricane survivors seek refuge in GJ
Wednesday, September 07, 2005By KRISTEN SENZ
The Daily Sentinel
As 85-year-old Bernice Hargis of New Orleans stood inside
the Grand Junction office of the American Red Cross on Tuesday, the look in
her eyes seemed to tell the story of thousands of Hurricane Katrina’s
victims.
She stared into the distance, tearing up, as she wondered
where her brothers and sisters are, and whether they made it through the
storm.
“We are not allowed to go back,” she said. “We can’t even
get phone calls through at all.”
Hargis, who evacuated her New Orleans home of 64 years on
her birthday, Aug. 28, waited while Red Cross staff and volunteers worked to
find housing, clothing and prescription drugs for her and three generations
of her family, all of whom arrived Sunday in Grand Junction.
“It was not a happy birthday to one extent,” Hargis said,
“but it was to another, because it could’ve been worse.”
Now, the three separate families, all relatives, are sharing
close quarters with their only relative who doesn’t live in Louisiana,
Hargis’ son Anthony of Fruitvale. They’re hoping to find temporary housing
elsewhere while they wait for permission to go home.
The families left their homes in Algiers, located on the
West Bank of the river from New Orleans, early Sunday morning, Aug. 28,
before the mandatory evacuation order was issued. Hargis’ granddaughter,
Jessica Cheffer, and her husband, Scott, said they used to stick out severe
weather at home, but ever since their son, 14-month-old Elijah, was born,
they’ve taken evacuation orders more seriously.
Having traveled to Memphis, Tenn., and then back to
Louisiana before making the trip to Grand Junction, the Cheffer family has
considered their car and their motel rooms home for more than a week.
They’re grateful for the hospitality offered them by Anthony Hargis and his
family, but said they hope to find a place where they can live more
independently for what could end up being a six-month stay.
“We just couldn’t afford motel rooms anymore, so that’s why
we packed up and came here,” Cheffer said. “With the baby, it’s kind of
rough... We’ve kind of been playing musical beds.”
They’ve heard their house has major wind damage, but stayed
relatively dry. Still, they don’t know what might be left of it when they
get back, “as far as people taking advantage of an empty house,” Cheffer
said.
“We left wedding albums behind; we left with clothes,
literally,” she said. “You can only fit so much in the car.”
Their upper-middle class neighborhood is in ruins, they
hear, with the mall and a local power plant having gone up in flames.
Now, they find themselves in Grand Junction, signing up to
receive food stamps while looking for work and shelter.
“You just never think you’re going to be the victim,”
Cheffer said. “It’s unreal.”
Bernice Hargis’ two daughters — Lauren and Cheffer’s mother,
Darnell — also arrived in the Grand Valley on Sunday. Lauren and her
husband,
Carl Gegenheimer,
already received a card that allows them to purchase food, but, “It won’t be
activated for a couple days,”
Lauren Gegenheimer
said, shrugging.
The
Gegenheimers
also have the added chore of getting their 16-year-old son, Luke,
enrolled in school here, something they said he’s not too thrilled about.
Anthony Hargis’ wife, Penny, accompanied her husband’s New
Orleans relatives to the Red Cross on Tuesday. She said having them around
hasn’t been a burden, but she wants to help them find some independence.
“They’re an easy batch to have around; they take care of
themselves,” she said.
Penny said she’d been racking her brain since the families
arrived, trying to figure out where to turn for help. When she called the
Red Cross, they offered immediate assistance.
“You don’t even think about getting help through these
agencies yourself,” she said. “You know they’re here, that they’ve helped
people for years, but you don’t think about needing it.”
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