Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Desiree and Brian Cadwallader and their three children spent a one-week vacation in the Forest Lake area visiting family during the Fourth of July weekend.

Little did they know in two short months they would be back in Minnesota.

Little did they know two months ago that their lives in New Orleans would be blown apart by Hurricane Katrina.

Nearly three weeks removed from their hasty exodus from the Gulf Coast, the Cadwallader family and Desireeís parents, Mary and Dallas Gileck, have found refuge in Linwood Township with brother and son Ken Gileck and his wife Laurie.

For the Cadwalladers and Mary and Dallas Gileck, the ability to call Linwood home is countered by the uncertainty that awaits them in New Orleans. With much of the city still underwater, the two families are preparing for the worst and getting used to life here and the likely prospect that Minnesota may become their new home.

A new life

For the New Orleans families, living with a son and brother has made the transition easy. As September wears on, the two families are searching for more permanent housing.

With 10 people occupying the Ken Gileck home, the living space is cramped.

The first priorities have been finding safe haven, making sure the kids are in school and beginning the job search. Some of the Minnesota details are falling into place.

Desiree has found work at the Cambridge hospital as a medical records technician, thanks to a corporate connection with her employment at a now-closed New Orleans hospital.

Eldest daughter Brenna, 17, has enrolled at Forest Lake High School as a junior. Youngest daughter Claire, 9, attends Linwood Elementary.

Brenna and Kelsey, 14, were both enrolled in a private all-girls Catholic high school that serves grades 8-12. Because Kelsey would have been required to attend a junior high school here, she will be home schooled this fall.

There are no schools to attend in New Orleans now, however, and the kids are starting over with school here.

Brenna, however, would like to finish high school in Louisiana in order to qualify for a state program that provides college tuition credits for state graduates who remain in the state and attend a state college. She hopes to attend Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Brian is trying to deal with issues at home and will need to make a trip south at some point this fall when residents are allowed back in to check on their property. He is also handling family business related to insurance claims and mortgage issues facing the family in New Orleans for their home of 14 years.

He is an attorney and will seek work in Minnesota as a paralegal.

Miles from home

Some 1260 miles separate the Cadwalladers from their New Orleans home. The distance has not diminished their thoughts of what may await them.

They evacuated New Orleans on Saturday, Aug. 27 for Mobile, AL, some 150 miles to the east along the Gulf Coast. After learning of the devastation that hit New Orleans, the two families elected to head north in their vehicles.

The Cadwallader family lives in the Broadmoor neighborhood that is dubbed the Big Swamp area. It is the ìbottom of the bowlî that makes up New Orleans, Brian said last week. The home is four miles from the French Quarter.

Mary and Dallas Gileck live in the suburb of Terrytown on the south side of the Mississippi River.

A native of California, Desire has lived in Louisiana for the past 20 years. Her folks moved to New Orleans 10 years ago.

Brian, 46, is a native of New Orleans.

His family survived Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and Camille in 1969. He has learned, he says, not to take storm warnings lightly.

ìWeíve made it a habit to evacuate whenever there were threats of a strong slow-moving storm,î he said. ìWeíll go on a slow two.î

As opposed to a fast moving hurricane, a slow moving storm is apt to dump more rain and make flooding potential worse, the family said. And with their home in a low point of the city, getting out this time also made sense, the couple said.

They took two or three changes of clothes and a box of family photos when they left on Aug. 27, thinking they would return from Alabama in short order.

But when levees holding back water from Lake Pontachartrain broke, there was no going back.

After two full days in Mobile and withstanding the Category one hurricane there, the two families weighed options and accepted Ken and Laurieís offer to come to Minnesota.

ìIt came under the category of no other place to go,î Brian said. ìWe never considered a shelter.î

Other family options were with other relatives in Washington and Oregon. ìEveryone else was pretty much a full house,î Desiree said.

On the positive side, all 30 members of the Cadwallader family are accounted for in the New Orleans area, Brian says.

What to expect

For the Cadwalladers, the trip south sometime this fall may only result in some salvage steps. Until insurance adjusters can get in to do their work, it is uncertain if their home is salvageable, Brian said.

From news reports, they believe the first floor of their home filled with water. The same likely is the case for Mary and Dallas in Terrytown.

The Cadwalladers say the full extent of what they face is yet to sink in.

ìAt first you are numb,î Brian said.

ìYou go through anger and there is a feeling of overwhelm,î Desiree adds.

While the two families are grateful and thankful to be free of the devastation in New Orleans and safe in Minnesota, there is still a desire ìnot to be a burden to my brother and his family,î Desiree said.

In their first week here, the family has only good things to say about their new friends and neighbors. ìThe community has been wonderful,î Desiree said.

Donations of food and clothing have come in to assist with the transition. The signs of friendship as the families try to begin anew in this area are meaningful, they add.

Housing for two families is their key priority. Homes or apartments that can house a family of five and the elderly couple are being sought.

Anyone with tips on potential housing may call 651-462-8802.

ìWe are very grateful to all the people who have been helpful to us,î Brian said.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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