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Flood victim featured in On Your Side reports gets new house through Restore La.

5 years 5 months 3 weeks ago Friday, September 21 2018 Sep 21, 2018 September 21, 2018 5:57 PM September 21, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A flood victim's story is finally coming to an end. Floy Cook has lived through plenty of stress these last two years, and, on more than one occasion, she thought she'd be homeless.

Friday, when Cook walked through her brand new house, her eyes grew wide and her spirit lifted.

"I wasn't expecting it I didn't know they could do this," she said.

It has tall ceilings, three bedrooms, two full baths, and new appliances. Cook will be the first person to live in it, built on the property she's lived on for years.

"I love it," she said.

Cook first contacted 2 On Your Side in 2017, when she was struggling with keeping her temporary housing and running out of options as deadlines approached. At one point she was worried she'd be facing eviction. Soon after our first story aired with Cook, things started looking better.

"I thought I was going to be homeless, I didn't know what I was going to do," said Cook.

In February 2018, the state tore down her gutted, flood-damaged home. Her memories had all been washed away in the August 2016 flood. Cook's home is one of about 70 on the Restore Louisiana reconstruction list. The program reconstructs homes where the cost of repair is 80 percent or more of the cost to reconstruct, as determined by the program. The homes are valued at a standard price of $78 per square foot.

"I lost all my furniture, I lost all my clothes, I lost everything," she said.

Contractors hired through the Restore program built her new home from the ground up. Her house sits off the ground much higher than it once did.

Cook once worried this day would ever come, but she was determined not to give up. This week she was given the green light to move in. All the while grateful for the people on her side, that got her home.

Cook is currently searching for furniture to fill her new home. When she finds these items she'll be moving into her new house.

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