ST. CHARLES PARISH, La. — Residents in St. Charles Parish and Hahnville continued to wake up to no power and severe damage.
Neighbors were seen helping each other when it came to the cleanup process.
"It was worse than Katrina!" said Joshua Smith of St. Charles Parish.
Smith was one of many people who stood in a line waiting to speak to a FEMA representative to get financial assistance after his home was destroyed by Hurricane Ida.
"It sounded like two jets coming through. Like it was not even two inches away from the jet. It was scary, the roof ripped off, the walls came down," added Smith.
FEMA had teams in 16 parishes and according to their spokesperson, close to 200-million dollars in grant money was approved for those affected and they expect that amount to go up.
"FEMA is working closely with the state to make sure these emergency supplies keep flowing continuously, so they don't run out of water, so they don't run out of food," said John Mills, spokesperson of FEMA.
That helping hand was also initiated by residents themselves who are dealing with losses. A U-Haul truck was set up in an abandoned parking lot where school supplies and water were passed out to children and their families.
"We love our parish. We love our children. We love our families. We want to make sure everybody has a way to get food and water until we get electricity back up," said Lewis Logan of Destrehan.
"We're resilient out here. We want to try and give back even though we have lost ourselves. Anytime we can funnel different things coming from different areas of the city, whether it's water, food or supplies," said Jonathan Parnell of Hahnville.
Lawmakers and parish officials toured the damage on Keller Street in Hahnville to get an idea of what resources can be provided to help residents make progress in their living situation.
"We do not have electricity. We're in week two. 95-percent of our community is without electricity," said Councilwoman-at-Large Holly Fonseca of Division B.
Residents in the area were told their power would not be restored until at least September 29.
Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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