Photos: The Aftermath of Isaac

In the above photo, Rabbi Mendel Rivkin walks through the lingering rains to check for any damage at the New Orleans Chabad House in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac.

Unfortunately, the Rivkins’ home wasn’t so lucky; a tree fell on their car, another tree damaged the home’s awning and downed power lines block their front door.

From VIN News:

Residents of New Orleans’ Jewish community are relieved to see sunshine, one day after Tropical Storm Isaac dumped a deluge of water on the city that is still scarred from its encounter with Hurricane Katrina seven years ago.

While the Plaquemine’s Parish area of the city was particularly hard hit as the storm breached the levees, the Uptown New Orleans area, home of Chabad Uptown sustained much less severe damage, which included downed power lines and tree limbs. Reports in the New York Times estimate that seventy five percent of the state remains without power and residents of Uptown New Orleans are hoping that power will be restored before Shabbos.

“There was more damage than expected because the storm moved so slowly that it stayed much longer than expected,” New Orleans resident Malkie Rivkin told VIN News. “There are a lot of people without power and as you go house by house and street by street you can see the debris everywhere. A tree fell on our car and another limb crashed through our siding, leaving water leaking into the house.”

While Chabad Uptown is currently without electricity, nearby Chabad Metairie does have power and according to Mrs. Rivkin, there was minimal damage to both shuls, in stark contrast to Hurricane Katrina when photographers captures images of volunteers wading through waist high water in order to remove Sifrei Torah from Congregation Beth Torah in New Orleans.

“We moved the Aron Kodesh away from the wall to a safer spot and put plastic over the top,” said Mrs. Rivkin. “At Metairie they put plastic over the Torahs to make sure they stayed dry.”

Mrs. Rivkin estimated that the rain soaked the state for approximately thirty hours and said that people have been staying in touch via email and text messages.

“There was an enforced curfew of 8 PM last night with the national guard and the police patrolling the area in an effort to deter looters,” reported Mrs. Rivkin. “It feels like living in a war zone and while people stocked up on provisions before the storm, they are starting to get concerned about running out of food and water. But thank G-d everyone is safe.”

As the power outages continue Mrs. Rivkin remains optimistic that service will be restored shortly so that both Shuls can open for Shabbos.

“We are planning on aufruf this week for a young man from Mississippi,” said Mrs. Rivkin. “We hope to have our electricity back so that we don’t have to move the aufruf to another location.”