A mandatory evacuation order remains for the Plaquemines Parish community of West Pointe-A-La-Hache.
Hurricane Ida left homes here unlivable from floodwater and lack of power.
The community straddles the Mississippi River on the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. It has been home to generations of families including the family of Esande Henry who has lived here for 60-years.
“We got family that lives there, my aunt and her husband live there,” she said.
High water that remains 15 days since the storm passed requires people to use a boat to retrieve what they can.
That’s what Jody Ancar did. He’s another life-long resident. Ancar said he was able to salvage some clothes, but that everything else, including his car, was no longer there.
"All of that is gone, but I’m fortunate as long as I got my strength and a good job, I’m going to replace everything,” he said.
The Henry family evacuated from their homes the Thursday before Ida hit. They fled to Florida, and Monday was the first time they’ve seen what’s left of their home. They were able to take a few pieces of clothing but that was it.
Thick black mud surrounds the property and cars are and trailers are stuck in it. Henry says, unlike Katrina, where FEMA came to assist families with alternative housing, she says this time she feels forgotten.
“Down here we’re not getting nothing, nothing that we supposed to get,” she said.
For now, the family says they will live with a relative, but like so many of the roughly 80 people who live here, they face an uncertain future.
“We are not leaving, even with all this damage. We were born and raised here. We want to rebuild because this is our land they are saying we may have to go 15 feet in the air. How you going to put a mobile home 15 feet in the air?” asked Henry.