My name is Jeanne Leslie and I work as a secretary in the computer engineering department at the University of Houston at Clear Lake.
Well we were all told to evacuate, and a mandatory evacuation. I've been in floods, but I have never witnessed what we saw right here in this particular area, or in the entire area, but right here. Houses had washed into other houses. A boat had washed over a six-foot fence back there, it was in my yard. The debris from everywhere was in my yard and everything, mud and dirt and nothing, nothing left.
In a, well, like what we're seeing here now in Haiti, there's a lot of criticism, but, people don't realize, when you've got a catastrophe it takes time to get things in place and get people , you've got, even in a movement, and services, things have got to be organized in a way to disperse that service. It can't happen in ten minutes.
FEMA had already begun to set up. We had a public park up the way and they were already out here, Red Cross people were here, FEMA was here. FEMA to me was very organized. They had all of the different facets that you needed to see.
They set up, and how well they were organized. They had a table and a spokesperson for IRS. They had a table and spokesperson for every service that you would need, all there at the same place.
I was at work and my son called me and he said, Mother, can you leave? We, I need to see you. Some of the FEMA people are here, and that wasn't uncommon. They were always, they came, we had to get the lot just right, we had to get the electricity just right, we had to get everything just right.
When I came out of my car and looked up, here was this trailer. And I will never forget it. Never, never forget it.
They came to me and told me that I had the option of purchasing the house. And I never thought I'd be purchasing a mobile home for my permanent home but, my family in big houses and I said if I had a big house with gold faucets it wouldn't mean as much to me as this house because it's become a home.
I'm eternally grateful for this place and I can't wait to get the landscaping and things done and the roses back and then I want everybody to come back and see it.