How you can help Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida - recommendations from a local

To give you some context. Both my parents were born and raised in south Louisiana. My family on both sides goes back generations in this region of the US. I myself grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River, with a 5-minute drive over a bridge that connects the two states of Mississippi and Louisiana. The Miss Lou, as we like to call it.

I was 12 years old when Hurricane Katrina hit us. Natchez (my hometown) is a 3-hour drive north of New Orleans, so the brunt of the storm was not felt as it was on the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. But we did lose power at my home in the countryside for two weeks. We had hurricane transplant kids immediately coming through Natchez and going to school with us. Sometimes a few days, a few weeks, a few months, even the rest of the school year.

I was part of a local church youth group beginning that year 2005, until 2010 when I graduated high school. We went to New Orleans or the Gulf Coast every Martin Luther King day weekend to volunteer and help clean up. That was (at least) 5 years of MLK volunteer weekends still helping communities and people that had been affected by Katrina.

I now live in New Orleans.

What I'm trying to say here, Louisiana is my home. And it needs all the help it can get.

[Scroll to the bottom for how to help recommendations]

Ida was a monster. She came fast and she was fierce. And she came on Katrina's anniversary, which brings back PTSD to all those that lived through that catastrophe 16 years ago.

New Orleans was hit. The streets are covered in downed trees and power lines. There is no power city-wide, and we're unsure when it will be fully restored. It's hard to find gas to fill your car and evacuate now. The cell service is super spotty. And it's a boiling hot Louisiana summer.

But, the smaller towns and communities that surround New Orleans got hit by Ida worse. Like Grand Isle, Lafitte, Jean Lafitte, Houma and Terrebonne Parish, La Place, Port Fourchon, Kenner, Lafourche, Ponchatoula.

The wind damage has been much worse in these small towns. Trees uprooted, fallen on homes and businesses, whole roofs blown off. Some towns have flooded. People had to be rescued from their roofs and attics.

South Louisiana is hurt.

But what has been so incredible to see in the last few days is local mutual aid jump up into action and get to work as soon as Ida passed. It brings tears to my eyes to think about how quickly Louisiana communities have come together to help one another.

From as simple as neighbors sharing their generated power to set up phone charging stations from their homes and businesses for anyone to use; to evacuation rides from kind strangers out of the affected areas; locals coming back after evacuating with trucks full of supplies; neighbors and restaurants handing out free food, meals, water and ice; people rescuing dogs that were left outside or at home during the storm. The list goes on and on and on.

The wide sharing of information alone has been incredible as well - pictures of neighborhoods and potential damage, requests for support and supplies, long lists of where to find resources, how to get in touch with people in need. This has helped bring people and support together while also keeping people that evacuated well informed.

We have a long road of recovery ahead, but this instant and widespread mobilization, support, and care, gives me hope.

My faith in humanity feels restored.

So, if you are willing and able, the best way to help Louisiana is through local mutual aid!

With local organizations and community leaders where any support you can give will be felt quickly and most directly by those affected. Not only in New Orleans, but also in the surrounding smaller towns and communities.

Here is a list that I personally vouch for and support, along with all the Louisianians I know. We can rely on and trust these mutual aid organizations much more than national ones, like Red Cross.

For even more direct impact, as in neighbor to neighbor support, I can personally point you in that direction.