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Homeowner Bio
Katrina has been a long storm for Rhonda Krantz as it has been for many, who four years later are still struggling to return home.
Rhonda, a 52-year-old native of St. Bernard Parish, first applied for rebuilding assistance with SBP almost a year ago. However rebuilding her home lost priority, as Rhonda wondered if she even had the strength to survive her own battle with cancer let alone Katrina.
“This is my second time having cancer, and its not even the same kind,” Rhonda said.
Rhonda had her first battle with cancer in the 80’s, but was diagnosed with a second form of cancer last February.
Before Katrina, Rhonda, herself an epileptic, cared for her mother who was diagnosed with cancer in 1994. Rhonda’s mother passed away in 2004 and her son James passed away the day after her mother’s funeral.
“Jamie and I shared a wall so at night we would knock on the wall in code ‘I love you’,” Rhonda said. The night after my mom’s funeral I was so tired, and in shock I didn’t realize he hadn’t knocked on my wall.”
Rhonda lost three other family members that same week.
“It was just loose, loose, loose for so long,” said Rhonda.
Just as Rhonda was trying to accept the pain that comes with losing both her mother and her own child, Katrina entered her life.
Rhonda, her father, stepmother, brother, sisters and their children and several family friends evacuated together to Arkansas to escape the storm’s wrath. The family stayed in a hotel for more than a week and watched in horror as they saw their homes completely under water.
“I was in disbelief,” Rhonda said. “My house hadn’t flooded in over 100 years.”
Rhonda and her family returned to Louisiana and rented a house and waited to return to St. Bernard Parish. Upon learning that they were storm evacuees, the owner doubled the price of the rental property. Rhonda and her family could not afford the rent, and were forced to move into a trailer in Lafayette.
Six months after the storm, Rhonda and her father returned to his home in Metairie to see the damage. Luckily, Rhonda’s father’s home had sustained little damage, and he was able to move home. Rhonda then traveled to St. Bernard to see what had happened to her own home--the home that had belonged to her mom, the home where James had passed away.
Rhonda was devastated when she saw her house. She had seen images of the destruction, but nothing had prepared her for the sight of her mother’s home in ruins. Rhonda moved in with her father for a few months and eventually rented a small apartment in Metairie, where she lives today.
Although she has faced many hurdles over the past four years, Rhonda is resilient. More than anything, she wants to go home.
“I used to wonder if I was ever going to be alive in that house, but now I know the volunteers are coming and I’m so excited. I can’t wait!” said Rhonda.
Rhonda’s greatest wish is to publish a book of Jame’s poetry and to replace the oak tree in the front yard that James had planted before the storm.
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