CA town, kin honor Katrina survivor on her 104th birthday

[Gormy Cuss]

Katrina victim's new life
Town, kin honor her 104th birthday
- Jason B. Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 17, 2006

Lavinia Lundy had lived in her New Orleans Uptown home for 64 years until Hurricane Katrina flooded her house with 8 feet of water, washing away a lifetime's worth of pictures and belongings. But she's found a new life and friends in Danville -- and will celebrate her 104th birthday today with a party and a mayoral proclamation honoring her.
...
"We were like gypsies," Lundy said, recalling the traffic-jammed, 12-hour drive from Louisiana to Texas and then the scramble to escape Rita. "It was beyond my imagination that I'd ever live to see such devastation."

...
Lundy said she knew in her heart she could never return to New Orleans after visiting the city about two months after Katrina and seeing how the storm had flooded the first floor of her home and caused severe mold damage to the upper floor.

Because she had visited Danville in past years, she felt good about coming here to start a new life. "The beauty of this place fascinates me, especially the mountains and the hills. We don't have that in New Orleans," said Lundy. "What we do have in similarity is a lot of loving, caring people. We had that in New Orleans, and they have it here."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/17/BAGL3JFNG61.DTL
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle

She sounds like an interesting woman -- 104 and still takes walks!