Opelousas, La—James Roberts, an Opelousas man, still sits and stares at the rumble of his home after a tree came crashing down during the April 10th storms.
Roberts continues to search for help after learning there will be no disaster relief aid coming to the area.
"It hurts me to sit in my car and look at my house gone; it's down, and it just hurts me," said Roberts.
About a month ago, James Roberts took me to see the damage to his house after the April storms.
"Remember this: we couldn't even pass through here," said Roberts.
Roberts says the time has gone, and little has been done.
"No, nothing hasn't changed; the only thing that might have changed is me trying to get this back up," said Roberts.
The 79-year-old is trying to cut some of the trees down himself.
" I do need help. I need to get this off the house, especially this tree right here, because there is a gas line underneath it, and it could fall on the gas line," said Roberts.
On top of clearing the large debris, he faces a larger problem.
" It's going to be hard, and it's hard to see it like this because now, I have to get this backup, and I don't have the insurance," said Roberts.
With hurricane season only a month away, the Louisiana Insurance Commission says getting covered is critical to avoid disaster of this magnitude.
"What we try to remind people about and what they should know before the storm comes is number one: Look at the policy or call your agent or insurance company and find out what your named storm deductible is. Essentially, this is what you will owe out of pocket before your insurance coverage kicks in, so for some people, that is the total insured value of their home," said John Ford, Deputy Commissioner for the Louisiana Department of Insurance.
Ford encourages you to document the damage by taking photos and then making an assessment to file a claim as soon as possible.
Lastly, as the homeowner, you must protect your home if it suffers any roof damage or has a broken window to protect you from further losses.
As for Roberts, who doesn't have insurance, Ford says FEMA is a good first step to see if they can offer any assistance despite the area missing the federal requirement for disaster recovery relief. However, there is another option.
"Depending on other assistance that you need, we would direct you to your local resources by calling 211; it's a clearing house for different types of assistance available to the public," said Ford.
To learn more about insurance coverage for the upcoming hurricane season, click the link here .
