HOUMA, La. — A young family is trying to figure out what to do, after losing everything in Hurricane Ida.
Aaron Young, 19, and his wife Essence Washington went on Facebook Live, pleading for help, as strong winds and rain damaged their apartment in Houma, Louisiana during the storm on Sunday.
“Look! Look! Look! Y’all! It’s really serious boy! We got to get out of here,” Young could be heard telling viewers on the live video stream.
The 10-minute video of the moments during the storm was dramatic, as Young and his wife tried keeping their 1-year-old son and 3-month-old daughter safe.
“Man, our roof really fell in! Our roof fell in, bro! Man, we’ve got these kids bro,” Young shouted as he navigated through the damaged apartment.
“I got my little babies with me,” he shouted!
The tone of fear and desperation in the couple’s voices was present.
During the storm, part of their roof blew off. As the minutes went on, the rain-soaked ceiling began collapsing. The floors were flooding. All around them, walls were ripping away.
At times, both Young and his wife could be heard screaming.
“If anybody is watching this, we really need help,” Washington shouted.
At one point, the couple attempted to open the door and try heading to their car for shelter. The wind and rain was too strong. A gust of wind sucked them back into the room.
“I can’t get out! It’s stuck,” Washington screamed as she was flung against a wall and screamed.
“The winds too strong. Can’t even get out y’all,” Young yelled.
“Oh my God! What are we going to do?” Washington said.
“We can’t get out! We can’t get out” Young hollered!
A neighbor ultimately came to the family’s aid when the winds died down. The family stayed with that neighbor Sunday night.
“God was the person that helped me get out that house with my kids,” Young explained.
Young explained his family didn’t evacuate before the hurricane, because they had no money. He said they just paid rent and other bills for the children.
The family not only lost their home but everything they owned in the storm.
Young said his mother drove him, his wife, and their two children to a hotel in Lafayette, Louisiana on Monday. For now, the family is staying there, temporarily, as they try figuring out what to do. Young says his immediate priority is making sure the children and his wife have necessities.
”It’s hurting me because I’m so young. And I was starting off so good. And I feel like I lost everything. But I know God is in store for me, and I know everything that I lost is going to come right back,” Young explained.
Some organizations are offering resources like baby items to Young and his family. If you would like to donate to the family's GoFundMe, click here.