Let's send some DU VIBES to MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry (her home was destroyed by Isaac)...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=523362131012447&set=a.290068127675183.91261.280920811923248&type=1

PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton

Isaac has officially hit the MSNBC family. Our colleague Melissa Harris-Perry tweeted today that her new house has been destroyed by the storm.

Send her your love & thoughts at Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC.

[annabanana]

1. O Dear. . .

Rough one.

[librechik]

2. at least they hadn't spent a lot of money to fix it up yet,

judging by the photos. Maybe a blessing in disguise. There are beaucoup vacant houses in NOLA for sale.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. As long as they had adequate insurance...

...it comes down to a matter of filing the forms, receiving the check, buying a new home, and rebuilding the dream there.

I'm not trying to minimize the sadness they're feeling right now, but you're right...if the financial investment was primarily the cost of the home, they should get all of their money back.

Situation still stinks, but she's alive and unharmed and (hopefully) fully insured.

[PatSeg]

33. They were almost done renovating the house

I was just looking at photos of it yesterday. A lot of time and love went into the project and it shows in the pictures.



http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2012/04/melissa_harris-perry_and_james.html

[librechik]

35. oh, i didn't see those pics--they don't seem to be of the house in the OP

so sorry for their loss--hope their insurance fixes everything up

[jberryhill]

38. It isn't

The house in the article is their home.

The house in the OP is not their home.

They are two different houses. The one in the OP they just bought, and was not in habitable condition.

[jberryhill]

37. That is not the house in the OP

The house in the article you linked is a house they previously renovated.

The house in the OP is a house they recently purchased, and which had an exterior wall missing from Ivan as of a few days ago.

[snappyturtle]

34. She had it on her program last weekend!!! The pictured house is across the

street from where she lives.

edit: She bought it to help relieve the plight of the deserted homes. Poor house only had three sides left after Katrina....so this storm was too much for it's feeble remaining framework.

[PatSeg]

39. Oh okay

Thanks for the explanation. I knew the article about the renovated house was only a few months old, so I couldn't understand why they bought another one.

[Brewinblue]

3. They aren't showing any of this on TV.

They keep focusing on the CBD and the Quarter, places that are not going to have problems because they are on high ground and made generally of concrete and steel.

If they would take the cameras into the neighborhoods, it would show the true catastrophe taking place.

[nenagh]

6. Please give us more information...

and keep safe...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

9. The "azfamily.com" (Arizona) news Website has set up a special Isaac page...

...and it looks like they are making a genuine effort to keep it current:

http://www.azfamily.com/weather/hurricane-isaac/

[bunnies]

4. Her new house was already destroyed.

Id have been more surprised if it didnt collapse. Still sucks though.

[Jim__]

7. Wow! Sorry to hear that.

If the New Orleans area is going to stay inhabitable, they're going to have to seriously improve that levy system.

[Ineeda]

11. So far, the levees are working just fine.

The current problems have different sources: high winds, storm surge, flood-prone elevations, etc. From the photo, it looks like MHP's house was an old shotgun-style house and probably not up to current storm-hardened standards. It's too bad it was lost but it's fortunate that there was no human cost, and not even the loss of personal possessions.

[Jim__]

12. It sounds like Plaquemines Parish is a disaster area because of overflowing the levees.

I was considering that part of the New Orleans area - maybe it's not really a part of it. But, if not, then it's the levy system in southern Louisiana that needs to be improved.

[KamaAina]

26. The levees that have overtopped in Plaquemines are not part of the Federal system

it is kind of an exurban part of the New Orleans area.

[SoCalDem]

28. The problem is that as some areas are "hardened", water seeks other places

This is what irks so many small communities all along the Mississippi. A town upriver puts in state-of-the-art improvements to their flood protection, and it forces more water into other areas that may not have flooded much before.

A tighter ring around New Orleans, means that the water those areas might have gotten, is funneled elsewhere...into areas that may not be able to afford to send the water somewhere else..

[AsahinaKimi]

8. I am

Curious, has there been much coverage on the damage from Hurricane Isaac? I haven't seen much of it here on DU.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. Haven't seen much, but...

...if you check the azfamily.com link I just posted above ( http://www.azfamily.com/weather/hurricane-isaac/ ), you will find quite a bit (and it's a dedicated page, so it should be updated regularly).

[jberryhill]

13. You understand it was a shambles already, yes?

This was not her residence. It was a profoundly Katrina-damaged house, which was already missing at least one exterior wall.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. So...fucking...WHAT, yes?

She BOUGHT the motherfucker.

Did you read the part about this being her dream?

Jesus FUCKING Christ. GOODBYE.

[jberryhill]

15. Why the anger?

It could easily be interpreted from the photo that the damage to this house was representative of damage done by Isaac, or that her home was destroyed.

Yes, a wealthy TV personality's dream of rebuilding a house was shattered.

I admire and like her very much, but c'mon. There are people whose dream of home ownership is unattainable, let alone having one for a hobby restoration project.

There are many damaged homes in New Orleans, which once were someone's dream, and which can now be bought for restoration by people with the money to do that sort of thing.

[snooper2]

17. because people aren't real bright and there are threads all over (her home was destroyed)

with people even posting she can stay with them

When no, her house that they LIVE in is fine...


Some of us try to counter misleading information for the low information random Intertube surfer out there LOL...Think of it as a crusade. A truthy crusade!!!

[Bluenorthwest]

16. They don't even live in the State, this is not 'her home' it is an old house she and her husband

bought on a lark, to go with their other homes. Just a thing she owned. Insured thing rich people owned. Forgive me if I do not weep for rich people losing nothing at all when I look at New Orleans she's just not part of my emotional landscape.

[nolabear]

21. How can you be so cold? Doesn't it hurt?

It's as if you think empathy is earned somehow by being more-downtrodden-than-thou. By that standard I should have no empathy for your troubles because so many are so much worse off. And people worse off than you number in the millions if not billions.

That's a pretty barren emotional landscape.

[catbyte]

22. Wow. Harsh!

[bluedigger]

23. First, what makes you think she's "rich", and has multiple homes?

She's a Tulane University professor, formerly at Rutgers (a State school), and probably doesn't even have tenure. She has been a pundit on MSNBC for a couple years or so, with her own weekend show for about a half year. IOW, middle class with aspirations. From the report she posted last Saturday, they bought it to restore, as an investment in the community. I'm not particularly worried about her financial troubles either, because they probably bought it for a minimal price that mostly reflected the value of the lot, not the structure.

But as a symbol of the trials and tribulations of enduring and succeeding in New Orleans, it is a tragedy. Is your emotional landscape a garden, or a field of weeds?

[luvspeas]

27. +1000000

I really don't think she's rich. More fortunate than some, yes. I like her on MSNBC.

[alp227]

47. Oh, that is why she got that on-the-ground photo.

And she commutes to NYC for the weekends to do her MSNBC show? Badass! Sad how she's lost a place she cherished dearly.

[Jennicut]

29. She is one of the few on a mainstream news network that choses

to highlight the plights of the poor in this country. And she doesn't have money in the way Mitt Romney does. She was a professor and has written some books. And she chooses to live in New Orleans. Wanting to rebuild a house there is a good thing.

[Lex]

40. "my emotional landscape"

Seriously? LOL.

[Lunabelle]

18. Hugs and Love MHP

Sorry about your beautiful home! Glad you and yours are ok, though.

[malaise]

19. Damn

Good vibes Melissa

[freshwest]

20. What a disapointment! Vibes to her and the family!

[nolabear]

24. I'm sorry. Looked like a fine, irreplaceable old structure.

Those old places, many dating back hundreds of years, are treasures. It's a real task to try to love one back into life, and such a disappointment when it has to be let go. I so appreciate those who are trying to renew New Orleans, and having that dream snatched is really sad.

[MNBrewer]

25. Looks like it was a lovely place

sad that it's gone.

[GreenPartyVoter]

30. Yes, it does. :^(

[Grammy23]

31. It was just a few days ago on her show that she---

talked about her house in NOLA that they got as a restoration project. She CLEARLY was looking forward to restoring that house to its former glory. No matter whether it was her primary home or just a "hobby", it seemed pretty obvious to me that she was looking forward to living there some day. Regardless of whether she is rich, middle class or poor, she still has feelings and it is mean spirited to suggest that it is an insignificant loss to her, no matter what her station in life. I would like to think that the people who come to DU to engage in honest discussions and commentary have a tad bit more compassion for a fellow human being. We can do better than to knock someone when the loss is still not even 24 hours old.

[jberryhill]

36. No one is knocking anyone....

...but the OP gives the impression this was an intact house, and was her residence, as evidenced by many of the comments.

Specifically, the OP says her "home" was destroyed.

No, her home was not destroyed. Her home is fine. A damaged house she bought was further damaged.

[flamingdem]

32. She seems so together on The Circle right now

wow!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

43. Time for my "rotisserie rat" story.

A few years ago, a friend told me about his mission work.

He went into a part of Eastern Europe to do mission work...a place so bad, he had to keep the location to himself.

He worked in a local Christian Counseling Center (I went there for counseling after my mom died in 2002).

On one point of his destination he stayed with gypsies in a cave.

They ate "rotisserie rat." Stick in the ass, out the mouth, placed on a makeshift spit.

His first counseling appointment upon his return with was a young yuppie couple.

The wife began sobbing uncontrollably. He asked what was wrong.

They had ordered matching BMWs at the local dealer, and when they arrived, they were the wrong model and wrong color.

He shared this with me, without naming names and breaking confidentiality, to illustrate a point. And I believe Melissa has illustrated the same point.

She was HONEST enough to admit her disappointment, but she also has not locked her happiness into owning STUFF. Her dream for that house is gone. She'll get another house, and with it, another dream.

We live, we learn. As Lou Reed once wrote, "there's a bit of magic in everything...and some loss to even it out."

[flamingdem]

44. I hope he told them about the rotisserie rats!

Good story, anyone who's eaten rat should be proud, it's um perfectly good protein.

[Rhiannon12866]

41. K&R! How terrible!

Vibes to Melissa and her family...

[Chorophyll]

42. Oh no! What a shame.

I wish New Orleans (and all who live there) could catch a break. A lot of breaks.

[Odin2005]

45. OMG!

[YvonneCa]

46. SO sorry, Melissa. I hope your family is...

...all safe.

[BootinUp]

48. Thats too bad. I had just seen her talking about it

a couple days ago.