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The dance community is so loving and compassionate. This has been shown by the outpouring of willingness to help others during this devastating time. In hopes to help those offering support understand how best to help those in need, and to help those affected by Harvey on what to expect now, a precious studio owner has written about her personal experience from the Louisiana flood last year. Please take a moment to read her story and her suggestions. Please continue to pray for all affected by natural disasters.
MY STORY
My name is Gwyn De Frances. I own De Frances Academy of Dance in Baton Rouge, LA with my mother Catherine De Frances and sister Angie De Frances Snow. We are proudly and humbly celebrating our 47th year. I say "humbly" because it was one year ago this August that our area suffered the worst flood in our history. It was business as usual on August 11 as we began our new year meeting our new parents and students, teaching our classes and spreading our love of dance. As I prepared for bed that night, exhausted, I watched the weather as I always do. Rain was expected for the next day but nothing unusual. Things quickly changed. Our phones began alerting us to flash flooding at 6am. Baton Rouge doesn't have flash floods. Kids were already on buses on their way to their 2nd day of school. The rain was horrible! By 8am, roads were already flooding, schools were closing, and kids were stuck on buses trying to get them back home. By 9am, all colleges including LSU were closing. Our phones just kept going off with flash flood alerts! By noon, everything in and around our area was either already flooded or beginning to flood. It truly was an incredibly scary event. At this point, my only concern was my family and their safety. Because my parents lived on the Amite River and we knew it was going to flood, we needed to move my parents furniture, boats, cars, and all my dad’s workshop upstairs to the 2nd story of their home. Their 2nd story is 14 feet up. They ended up getting 12 feet of water! Needless to say, we are very lucky to not have gotten water inside their home but it damaged their boathouse and the bottom level.
THE AFTERMATH
As we watched the continuous coverage on our local tv stations, we just couldn't believe what was happening to our city, our families, our friends, and our businesses. Little did we know it would be almost a month before we opened back up! We had about 30 inches of rain in 48 hours. There just wasn't anything any of us could do until the rains ended. We lost power, internet and phones! Facebook became a lifeline. Who knew that you could even make a phone call through Facebook messenger? When I heard my iPad ring for the first time...I couldn't believe it! When our cell phones did work, I'd have about 10 - 15 texts pop up. I'd have to hurry up and answer them before it went dead again. As you can imagine, it was chaos and very stressful. But it was also extremely sad, heartbreaking, and seriously overwhelming. So many people were being rescued by our infamous Cajun Navy in the surrounding neighborhoods. I actually saw pictures of some of our students being rescued. I watched my parents house on the local news become engulfed with rapids! We were trying to find our family and friends. I was worried about my staff. Were they ok? Come on phones...PLEASE WORK! I received a text late the first night from an old friend who recognized our family friends on a boat that the Cajun Navy rescued. I was able to find out what shelter they were taken too. My brother found a friend with an 18 wheeler to go pick them up. The water was too high for regular trucks. This went on for several days. The rain finally stopped but the damage was done and then the hard part started. We began going from one friend or family members house to another to throw EVERYTHING to the curb. Then, the sheetrock needed to be cut and bleach was put everywhere. Did you know that mold grows 12 inches a day? We do now. So cleaning needs to happen fast.
TRYING TO FIND MY DANCE STUDIO FAMILIES IN THE AFTERMATH
Now that my family was safe, as a dance teacher and business owner, I needed to get the word out to my parents, students, and staff that unfortunately we would not be open on our 2nd day. Emails went out, a note was put on the studio door, and we put a message on the answering machine. Then, we prayed. During this entire process moving from home to home, I was trying to get in touch with all of my students when I had internet. I asked a few simple questions. Did you flood? If so, what do you need? Are you still living in the area? Will you be able to come back to dance? Of course ,as I am asking these few questions, my life is flashing before me because not only have I just lost an entire month of tuition, but I may be losing an entire year. "Freak out mode" was at my doorstep! People were very slow to reply because most did not have power and let's face it, they were putting their lives on the curb and trying to find a place to live. Many of these people did not even have cars anymore! Some parents responded immediately letting me know they were ok and yes they would be returning to dance! Thank you, Jesus! Slowly over the following weeks, I heard from most. Some families I didn’t hear from because what I later found out is that I was emailing their work emails. They didn’t work there anymore or they weren’t receiving them. (Teachers, check the email addresses you have as you send emails out!) Many had to move away to live with family. Some that flooded told me there was no way they could return this year as most flood victims here did not have flood insurance. Others said they would return because they wanted their children to have some "normal" in their lives. I heard that word A LOT, "Normal." Things were certainly NOT "normal." Many schools were flooded. When schools started back up 1 month later, platoon schedules were needed. Kids went to school 1/2 days so they could share with another school. This, of course, affected all after school activities, like dance. Throughout this entire time, no one outside of our area knew what was going on because it wasn't getting much coverage on the national news. However, my dear friend Meredith contacted me because she saw her friend’s Facebook page. You see, her friend lives in this area, so she knew. I know now that the first time Meredith called me, I was still in shock. I don't actually remember much about that phone call except that she was the only person who had called me so far. No one else knew because it wasn't on the national news. One-third of the entire state of Louisiana was under water ,and it wasn't on the national news!
HOW TO HELP
Meredith immediately wanted to help, and I honestly didn't know how she COULD help. So after another phone call a few days later, we came up with a plan. She would put me in touch with a studio in another state that was of a similar size. She connected me with several amazing dance teachers that I had never met. They all wanted to send me things. I began getting images in my head of my studio, which by the grace of GOD did not flood, being overtaken by floor to ceiling boxes of dance wear, clothes and cleaning supplies. I didn't have time or the space for this! It was so overwhelming...but I also didn't want to be rude by not accepting these items. So, Meredith and I came up with another plan. Each of the studios she put me in touch with started collecting individual gift cards. These gift cards were for $10 - $25 or more to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, and Target. We were also blessed to have a dance competition from New Orleans help the dance schools in our area with brand new dance clothes and shoes! So when the day came to distribute these items, we were able to hand each parent a gift card from these awesome dance schools from out of state. One item though that made a huge difference, stuffed animals. As I was able to hand gift cards to families as they picked up the needed new dance wear, I was able to hand the child a stuffed animal. That stuffed animal put the biggest smile on their face! That gesture made a difference! There were many tears and hugs of appreciation that day.
Although we very much appreciated all the items sent, needs change very quickly in this type of situation. Space is also extremely limited. There just isn’t room for storage of items while you are waiting to distribute them. Time is also of the essence and there isn’t much extra time to sort through items since homes and buildings must be gutted, and gutted quickly. The best way to help is to help financially though gift cards. Gift cards can be used by families to purchase what they need at a specific time. Samaritan’s Purse is also a wonderful organization that made an impact.
I know you want to help. Believe me, every one of the dance teachers, students, and parents affected will be extremely grateful for your help. If you do want to send something besides a gift card, here are a few helpful hints. PLEASE only send dance items that are only slightly used. PLEASE make sure shoes are paired with a rubber band. Cleaning items are not needed. Small stuffed animals are :-) Make sure your gift cards have the receipt with them because we found that some visa cards didn't work :-( Again, a rubber band can be put around the receipt and card. If you are a dance teacher, don't feel guilty if you can't re open right away. Take care of yourself and your family.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM FEMA AND WHERE TO GO
FEMA is slow, and they do not give you as much money as you would hope. FEMA trailers took up to three or four months before they were delivered to people's properties. After the trailer arrives, it will take another 2 to 3 weeks to be hooked up! People can expect to stay with friends or family that did not flood for that amount of time. FEMA paid for some people to live in hotel rooms. However, there are only so many hotel rooms available. Every apartment building will be full so it is best to find one immediately.
Contact any church for help because they are all willing to donate their time and resources. Samaritans purse is the best because all of the money donated goes to helping people. Do not donate to Red cross! They do not distribute all of the money. Just look what the director of Red Cross makes in one year and that will tell you everything!
OUR STUDIO AND SUGGESTIONS BASED ON WHAT WE DID THAT WORKED
We felt awful about not being able to pay our staff for the month of August. Our students had paid us for August but we didn't feel it was right to keep it. So we applied it towards September tuition instead if they were coming back. Our parents were grateful, and our staff understood. After 2-3 weeks, if you can, try to have a "fun" night at the studio. Email parents to drop off their child for a couple of hours of fun. We had one ballroom learn a Hip Hop dance, another ballroom doing arts and crafts, and another ballroom playing games. We had feather boas and picture frames to take pictures with and put all of this on our Facebook page. This was a much needed break for parents, kids and honestly...for ourselves and our staff! It was "normal." We were able to re open after Labor Day! If you are a parent or student, please be patient.
IN CONCLUSION
You may not have flooded but your teacher and the staff may have. Your studio may have flooded, and a new facility may be needed. Patience, hard work, empathy, and prayer is the key to getting through this horrible catastrophe. Parents, please contact your studio owner as soon as possible. Let them know if you flooded, and your plans of returning to the studio or not. Texas and southwest Louisiana WILL recover. With people pulling together, it will be "normal" again!
It's been 1 year, and we are STILL trying to get through it! We took a huge hit losing about 120 kids. That's a lifestyle change, but we got through it. Our numbers are still low. Our city has changed, and many of our families have either moved away or just cant afford to dance because they now have a 2nd mortgage. We all have higher car insurance because so many cars were lost. Parents have lost their jobs, and some are still losing their jobs. The last pile of trash was just picked up 2 weeks ago, and FEMA trailers are finally beginning to disappear. But we got through it. I wanted to share my story so you can try to understand what dance teachers will be going through because of Harvey over the next year and even longer. Please continue to keep all flood victims and cities in your prayers.
Gwyn
Much love to you all and as always.... Dance hard. Dance Smart.
Meredith
Facebook: The Competitive Edge by Meredith
Instagram: competitiveedgebymeredith
Twitter: @the_comp_edge
You can also read The Competitive Edge by Meredith on Dance Apps Inc's app with NappyTabs, Dancer's Toolbox under Dancer's Dish.
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