OPELOUSAS, La. —
- 70-year-old Carolyn D'Arbonne lost part of her home from fallen trees
- multiple trees fell behind her house, landing on the addition built by her late husband
- D'Arbonne remains grateful for where the tree fell, missing her and her sleeping grandniece and grandnephew and the bookshelf her husband built containing all her books
There were high amounts of storm damage in St. Landry Parish, and in Opelousas, 70-year-old Carolyn D'Arbonne lost a part of her home from fallen trees.
Despite the damage to her home, D'Arbonne says she remains grateful for where the tree landed and what was left behind.
"It was a tree that was uprooted..." D'Arbonne said. "There's two of them, really, and it was all the way to the back of the yard. That's how big it was."
It fell back into the back of her house—an addition her husband had built on 15 years prior—leaving behind broken boards and tattered insulation, but D'Arbonne says things could have been much worse.
"I just freaked out. I just really did. I was so upset. I had the two kids—her two kids—sleeping with me, and if it would have fallen on my side, we could have all got killed," she said.
Luckily, she and her nieces children were safe, but D'Arbonne's next worry was the bookcase her late husband had build her, standing in the room where the tree lie.
"It's beautiful. It come out really nice, and I love to read. It was full of books, but the way that the tree fell, it stopped right before that, so that corner where it was at, it's all intact," D'Arbonne said.
But the rest of the room lay in ruins.
D'Arbonne says a friend has offered to set up a GoFundMe and get in touch with the Red Cross to help her in her next steps.
If you're living in the unincorporated areas of St. Landry Parish, have suffered damages from the storm and are looking for help, the sheriff's office says you can reach the emergency hotline at 337-290-2940.
