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Lee's Summit, MO —
As Hurricane Isaac churned across the Gulf of Mexico last week – on track to wallop flood-prone New Orleans with 100 mph winds, torrential rains and devastating flooding, memories of Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Katrina (2005) no doubt flashed across the minds of Crescent City residents as they braced for the storm’s wrath.
One such resident was 90-year-old Ruby Dunn, formerly of New Orleans, whose eyes were glued to The Weather Channel in her second-floor apartment at John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit. Watching with her was daughter, Mildred Cobbinah, a Louisiana native and longtime resident of Blue Springs.
Living alone in her one-story, all-brick home, the 63-year resident of New Orleans wasn’t at home when Hurricane Katrina brought death and destruction to the flood-ravaged Upper Ninth Ward neighborhood where she had dwelled since 1969.
Ruby escaped the Katrina carnage. When the Category 3 storm battered the Louisiana coast, she was some 900 miles away – in Blue Springs – visiting Mildred and her husband, Martin.
And, again, when Hurricane Ivan devastated the Gulf Coast – from Florida to Texas – in September 2004, Ruby was safely in the confines of her daughter’s Blue Springs home, where she had fled the impending storm.
How the great-great grandmother got to Blue Springs is an adventure story in itself. Sitting at a table in her mother’s apartment, Mildred says her mother, who was 83 at the time, was preparing to vacation with family members in Ghana, West Africa. The departure date was Sept. 22, 2004.
But looming on the horizon was Hurricane Ivan, which – if it lashed New Orleans – would keep Ruby from making her first trip to Ghana.
Mildred recalls her mother was suppose to fly to Kansas City on Sept. 18. But on Sept. 14, she received a call from her concerned mother saying: “Look, you all had better come and get me because I am getting out of (New Orleans), because if the hurricane comes before I get to Kansas City, I won’t be coming.’”
Plans were for Ruby to drive north in her car and for the Cobbinahs to drive south in their car. They would rendezvous later that day in Jackson, Miss., then travel together to Blue Springs.
“But she never made it to Jackson,” Mildred says of her mother, who ran into heavy traffic and got only as far as McComb, Miss. There they finally made connections and headed for Missouri.
As Hurricane Isaac churned across the Gulf of Mexico last week – on track to wallop flood-prone New Orleans with 100 mph winds, torrential rains and devastating flooding, memories of Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Katrina (2005) no doubt flashed across the minds of Crescent City residents as they braced for the storm’s wrath.
One such resident was 90-year-old Ruby Dunn, formerly of New Orleans, whose eyes were glued to The Weather Channel in her second-floor apartment at John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit. Watching with her was daughter, Mildred Cobbinah, a Louisiana native and longtime resident of Blue Springs.
Living alone in her one-story, all-brick home, the 63-year resident of New Orleans wasn’t at home when Hurricane Katrina brought death and destruction to the flood-ravaged Upper Ninth Ward neighborhood where she had dwelled since 1969.
Ruby escaped the Katrina carnage. When the Category 3 storm battered the Louisiana coast, she was some 900 miles away – in Blue Springs – visiting Mildred and her husband, Martin.
And, again, when Hurricane Ivan devastated the Gulf Coast – from Florida to Texas – in September 2004, Ruby was safely in the confines of her daughter’s Blue Springs home, where she had fled the impending storm.
How the great-great grandmother got to Blue Springs is an adventure story in itself. Sitting at a table in her mother’s apartment, Mildred says her mother, who was 83 at the time, was preparing to vacation with family members in Ghana, West Africa. The departure date was Sept. 22, 2004.
But looming on the horizon was Hurricane Ivan, which – if it lashed New Orleans – would keep Ruby from making her first trip to Ghana.
Mildred recalls her mother was suppose to fly to Kansas City on Sept. 18. But on Sept. 14, she received a call from her concerned mother saying: “Look, you all had better come and get me because I am getting out of (New Orleans), because if the hurricane comes before I get to Kansas City, I won’t be coming.’”
Plans were for Ruby to drive north in her car and for the Cobbinahs to drive south in their car. They would rendezvous later that day in Jackson, Miss., then travel together to Blue Springs.
“But she never made it to Jackson,” Mildred says of her mother, who ran into heavy traffic and got only as far as McComb, Miss. There they finally made connections and headed for Missouri.
Upon returning from Ghana, Ruby’s grandson drove her to New Orleans. But in August 2005, Ruby returned to Blue Springs to visit her daughter and son-in-law.
Says Mildred: “She came here Aug. 13 and was suppose to go back to New Orleans on Sept. 10. But during the time she was here was when Hurricane Katrina hit.”
Little did Ruby know when she secured her home in 2005 and flew to Kansas City that she would never again live in her two-bedroom house in her beloved New Orleans.
After Katrina left her calling card, Ruby could only guess what her Ninth Ward home looked like. Then, in late September of ’05, she found out firsthand. Ruby’s house was standing. But it was uninhabitable.
“It was devastating,” Mildred says of the house that endured 8 feet of water inside. “But I was relieved she didn’t have to live through the whole thing.
“Physically, she was not in (the house). But mentally, she was in it,” she continues. “And then to go there and physically see it was devastating (to her) – but not as much as it would have been if she had been there.”
Wearing high rubber boots, Ruby entered her once immaculate home – now covered with mud and mold and smelling to high heaven – and saw something that astounded her.
Before departing to Blue Springs, Ruby had covered her large dining room table with a tablecloth. Then she set the table with everything in place.
“The place mats, napkins, utensils and glasses were all lined up on my table just like company was coming,” she says. Centered on the table was a beautiful white soup-serving bowl.
And when she returned, Ruby found the table just as she had left it, even though rising floodwaters had gently lifted it up to the ceiling. Then returned it to the floor, as the water receded, and placed it around the table chairs.
How do you explain that?
“You can’t,” they exclaimed in unison. “You can’t.”
New Orleans has made great strides since Katrina, says Mildred, who remembers her hometown being like a “big cemetery” on her first return visit.
“There were no birds. There were no insects. It was quiet, quiet, quiet.”
On her second and third visits in 2007 and 2009, respectively, “You could see some of the improvements,” she recalls. “But there was spottiness in the houses that had been redone, and some of the houses had been rebuilt on stilts.”
To remain in Blue Springs or to return to New Orleans – that was the dilemma facing Ruby, who originally wanted to return to her roots as soon as possible.
“Mother’s plan has always been to go back to New Orleans to live,” says Mildred. So positive, in fact, that Ruby purchased new furniture and appliances to take back to New Orleans to replace what Katrina had taken from her.
But in 2006, some health issues resulted in Ruby having second thoughts about returning to New Orleans.
“She started having some problems with arthritis and some other physical stuff, and with construction in New Orleans so slow, the support system that was needed for people her age wasn’t there either,” Mildred says. “So in November 2006, she changed her mind about moving back to New Orleans. She decided to stay with us in Blue Springs. And in August of 2008, she moved into an apartment in John Knox Village.
Says Ruby: “And God was in the whole thing. He helped me make up my mind. … I am here. I love it here. There is so much to do here,” he says of John Knox Village.
Ruby admits she now has no desire to return to Louisiana. She loves where she is.
“Let me tell you that when I was here at John Knox four years ago and the people found out that I was from New Orleans, they said, ‘Ruby, I am so sorry.’
“I said, ‘Hold it. We don’t need anyone to pity us or feel sorry for us. We need prayer.’ Katrina made a turnaround. I think about that. This is God’s world.”
