‘It was incredibly frightening’: Canadian in New Orleans rides out Hurricane Ida

For almost 24 hours, a Toronto woman living in New Orleans hunkered down as windows violently rattled, items fell off shelves and trees and electricity poles toppled outside her shaking home, while Hurricane Ida tore through Louisiana on Sunday and into Monday.

Tanya Gulliver-Garcia considered evacuating before the worst of the storm hit her area, but chronic pain issues prevented her from driving long hours to get away.

She decided to ride out the hurricane in her home with her rescue dog Bear, while her landlord — having been through Katrina 16 years ago — evacuated.

Gulliver-Garcia, who works with the Centre for Disaster Philanthropy, told CityNews it was a terrifying day and a sleepless night.

“It was incredibly frightening. I’ve been through hurricanes before — I responded to Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Isaac — but I’ve always done it in a pretty secure, safe location, not in my own house,” she said from her car, parked on a street in the city where she was able to get cellphone signal, amid downed electricity poles and wires.

Downed electricity poles and wires are seen on a street in New Orleans after Hurricane Ida tore through Louisiana. Credit: Tanya Gulliver-Garcia

Having lost power mid-way through the day, she tried taking sleeping pills and resorted to soaking a sheet in water to help cool down and get some rest, but the relentless heat made that near impossible.

“Some of it happened during the day, so I had a good chance to get used to it and what it sounded like while it was daytime. But at night, I woke up probably every two hours,” she said.

Bear, in turn, spent the night pacing from one door to another.

“She’s a rescue and she’s fairly traumatized today,” said Gulliver-Garcia.

Tanya Gulliver-Garcia’s rescue dog bear spent an anxious night while the hurricane raged outside. Credit: Tanya Gulliver-Garcia

Since Louisiana homes do not have basements due to the risk of flooding, they did not have a protected space to shelter in place.

“I have one little hallway that doesn’t have any windows and I was keeping an eye on the existing windows, and if any of them looked like they were going to go, or if it looked like a tornado or I heard a tornado warning, then I was going to go into that hallway.”

One of her big worries was a large tree outside her home that was swaying dangerously and eventually cracked, but fortunately fell onto the roadway instead of through her bedroom. Her home did not suffer much damage apart from a few lost roof shingles and a broken porch light. Tiles from a neighbouring rooftop fell and shattered the windshield of her car, which she said in the larger scheme of things was “really nothing.”

A large tree outside Tanya Gulliver-Garcia’s home fortunately fell out onto the street instead of onto her home. Credit: Tanya Gulliver-Garcia

She says she’s physically alright, although a bit shaken, adding that the heat is oppressive, especially without any cooling available across the city. She thinks it will be several weeks, if not more, before power is restored to New Orleans.

“They said so far that they won’t even be able to tell us for three or four days how long it will take to get the power on. But because we lost transmission towers, not just poles and lines, but actual generator towers, I’m estimating at least a month based on previous hurricanes. It could be longer.”

She added that resources in Louisiana are stretched thin because the state has had the highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita in the entire world for several weeks, and since they are a tourism-driven economy, they’ve taken a huge hit. Despite dealing with a natural disaster while in a global pandemic, she says the mood remains hopeful.

“I think I’m feeling good. One of the things that always helped me, and it’s part of why I fell in love with New Orleans in the first place, is the resiliency of the people here,” she said. “The neighbors were all going outside and talking and helping each other clean up all the damage.”

Gulliver-Garcia will spend the next few days packing up the house and making a decision about whether to stay close to New Orleans or return to Canada for a while.

Having made it through the worst of the hurricane, she says she’s keeping a positive attitude.

“I know that I’m really lucky. I have a lot of privilege having a house and having a job and even having the friends and support network I have,” she said.

Tanya and her dog Bear, after riding out hurricane Ida in New Orelans. Credit: Tanya Gulliver-Garcia.

For those who are looking to help, she said cash donations are the best way to send support because there are no resources on the ground to collect, sort and distribute any donated items.

However, she also wanted to remind Canadians that charity begins at home.

“If you can dig deep, do. But also recognize that these disasters happen at home and there’s lots of folks in Canada who need support as well,” she said. “So maybe you can’t contribute to [the New Orleans] disaster, but you can think about what you can do in Canada to help out and to make life better, because it really takes all of us.”