Another difficulty in Acadiana in the aftermath of Ida is trying to find a place to stay in Lafayette. Rooms are sold out at every single hotel, motel, and inn on this list, provided by Hospitality Hub. The earliest any room on the list will be available is next Monday, but some won't have rooms available until the first week of October.
Those rooms are booked up by evacuees from Southeast Louisiana. Like many evacuees, the Matherne family are calling Acadiana their temporary home until they can get back to St. Charles Parish, hopeful the damage doesn't force them to rebuild.
"Not everybody can afford to just pick up and leave."
Monique Matherne and her two kids left their home in Des Allemands ahead of Hurricane Ida. As the storm shifted towards their home, Matherne fears she lost everything.
"When I woke up to find out that information, I was pretty sure that that I immediately started looking for houses to rent, because I was pretty sure that we would not have just roof damage and water damage in our house that it would probably maybe not be there and maybe be flooded,” said Matherne.
According to city officials, St. Charles Parish will be without power for up to a month.
Regardless of how bad the damage is, Matherne says she'll have to find a temporary home.
"Everything I've seen thus far is that there are whole lines down every major artery in our area, which means we have to relocate because I can't have two little ones in a small trailer or a house without power for a month,” Matherne added.
Despite the uncertainty of her own home, she's concerned about neighboring cities.
"Lafourche probably took the biggest brunt and then St. Charles the next and then New Orleans so when they show all of what is happening New Orleans, they did get damaged but it's nothing compared to what they're not showing in Lafourche Parish,” said Matherne.
The family plans to go back to St. Charles on Wednesday to assess the damage to their home.
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