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19 S&WB employees lose homes in tornado

NEW ORLEANS - Almost a week after the twister destroyed the second floor of her home, Linda Paisant is still in shock.

"Oh my God, as I stand here I'm just feeling grateful, thankful to God that I'm alive."

She was in this room when it was torn apart by the vicious winds.

"The wind came like a train, just blowing so hard, and I was in my nightgown, and I just bowed down and screamed Jesus help me," Linda recalled.

"When I actually saw the tornado, it was chopping up people's houses," said Desimon Tumbs, who rushed to help.

Tumbs ran up moments after the storm, and rescued Linda from the second floor

"We went up there, and she was under a mattress, a dresser and all the rest of the debris."

Linda recently retired from the Sewerage and Water Board. Desimon's dad works there.

"I was scared to let go, and he said 'I've got you,' and he let out his hand, and he held me, and they pulled me up, and then he said, he said 'get on my back, I can carry you on my back.' And I said ‘I'm too heavy,’” Linda remembered. “He said I've got you, I've got you. I didn't have any shoes, and he took off his shoes, and put them on my feet."

"I didn't do it for no hero," said Desimon.

Nineteen Sewerage and Water Board employees, and an unknown number of retirees, had homes in the East that were damaged or destroyed in last Tuesday's tornado. The agency is working to help in the recovery. But already, their friends and coworkers have come out to help.

Herman Williams turned off water where pipes broke, and used his back hoe to clear streets.

"I went and checked on neighbors, and helped move all kinds of debris in the street,” Williams said.

Co-workers have been helping Linda Paisant save what can be salvaged.

"Someone helped me some years ago for Katrina, and I'll never forget what they told me,” said her co-worker and now volunteer Jesse Perkins. “I tried to offer them money, and they said, just keep it going, just keep the flame burning, and that's what I'm doing."

"They still remembered me, and I'm thankful," Linda said, noting how grateful she is, and that she will rebuild, for the second time.

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