Betty Daggons, 78, was sitting on her sofa in the middle of the afternoon when her roof came crashing down, two weeks ago.
“It made a sound that scared me to death,” Daggons said, “I didn’t know what it was until I looked up and I saw all the stuff falling. So I just jumped up and ran out the backdoor.”
The cause, was the large oak tree outside her front lawn that collapsed, likely due to termites, neighbors and Daggons said.
After Daggons evacuated and alerted the fire department, she told WDSU looters raided her home and stole a walker that belonged to her late brother, an air conditioning unit, tissues and other household supplies.
On Tuesday, community members from the Ray Avenue Baptist Church stopped by to assess the damage.
They said they’ll do whatever it takes to help Daggons get back on her feet.
“The beauty of the community, whenever we have a crisis, we call the meeting and they come together,” said Rev. Robert Brown, Ray Avenue Baptist Church, “And we are going to do what we need to do.”
Daggons and neighbors said the tree had presented issues well before two weeks ago, but nothing was done to remove it, despite Daggons alerting officials.
“I knew something was wrong with the tree,” said Daggons, “I was calling and calling to ask somebody to come do something to the tree, nobody never came.”
WDSU has reached out to the city and Entergy New Orleans to inquire about the tree. Both have yet to respond for comment.
As she has no insurance, a community fundraiser has been organized to help support Daggons. It has a goal of $9,000. To donate, click here.
READ MORE:New Orleans East woman left to rebuild after a fallen tree destroyed her home
