Sunday, November 20, 2005

This Old Trailer

Sorry I haven't posted, I've been dead inside.

About 3 and a half weeks ago I reported that we were about to get a FEMA trailer. Will anybody be shocked to hear that we do not yet have said trailer? Not likely. FEMA has good intentions, and even a lot of money. Just not much for organization. Here is the story thus far:

On Nov. 2 I got a call from a FEMA subcontractor named Justin that they had a trailer for me, I just had to get the yard cleared to place it and find out where the main sewer cleanout is so it could be hooked up. I had to do this in two days, from a couple of hundred miles away, and I had to get into town to sign the paperwork. Ugh. Fortunately, I have a contractor and a checkbook, so my man Boudreaux got the yard taken care of. I called the city Water Board to have them look up the location of the sewer line. They give me some measurements, which I pass on to Justin, everything's cool.

By Friday it's clear that I cannot get back to N.O. to sign anything, as Baby Stella had a doctor's appointment and we were just not ready to leave Houston. Justin, who is really a nice guy who lives on my street, says he can hold onto the paperwork, and that he can't find the sewer drain anyway. I promised to look for it when I got into town the following Monday.

We didn't actually make it back until Wednesday, by which time Justin and Boudreaux have both looked for the missing pipe with no luck. We thought it might be buried under the pile of debris which had just been moved OUT of the yard. Great. I called the city again to check on the measurements, and learn they didn't give me one diminsion: the depth. The damn pipe is buried 4 feet down. (Incidentally, their records say the house was hooked up to the sewer system in 1916, ten years before I thought it was built.)

Naturally, FEMA ain't gonna dig no four foot ditch. Justin advises us to find a plumber who can hook up a pipe to the existing plumbing in the house. At our expense, of course. Finding a plumber in New Orleans right now is like getting a window table at Galatoire's on Mardi Gras day. There is just no way. With some ingenuity, Mr. Nola found a plumber in Atlanta who was planning to come down this week, and agreed to hook us up. However, the house plumbing was disconnected prior to the levelling in July, so he has to get to the main sewer line. So we'd have to dig the hole ourselves. Now Mr. Nola can add ditchdigger to his resume.

That brings us up to date. Mr. N will dig the hole tomorrow, and hopefully the plumber will come on Monday. The debris that we paid $800 to have moved in two days would have been picked up for free by the city this week, but you know, FEMA couldn't wait.

2 Comments:

At 10:28 AM, Blogger Jocelyn said...

I 2nd Jeannie's comment- if there is anything we can do-- even down the line- please ask.

Thank you for keeping us posted and we think about you too here at Chg2-flat.

 
At 4:42 PM, Blogger nRT said...

i am so sorry, i can not believe that FEMA and the insurance co. are jerking all of the victims of all natural disaster around. i guess thats there job, to actually save $ but not delivering to the victims.
i'm glad you decided not to try to rebuild because of the mold problem, it COULD cause tons of health problems for your family.
i hope you have a happy and HEALTHY Thanksgiving.
Peace and Health
nancy from boston, ma
ps: i enjoyed reading the premi article on your wifes blog:Screw Holland. i work at childrens and admire Heidi Als.

 

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