Two students struggle to get families out of New Orleans

By Elizabeth Leffall
The Collegian

While thousands of people are presumed dead and many areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama remain flooded after Monday’s hurricane hit more than 2,000 miles away, two Fresno State students said the disaster hit too close to home.

Junior Aryan Bull has more than 50 family members in Louisiana who were affected by the category five storm. Bull said he’s having a difficult time coping with everything and never knew something so disastrous could happen to his family.

“It’s hard for me to deal with right now, my family is really important to me,” Bull said. “Every one of them needs help right now.”

Many of Bull’s relatives lost their homes to flooding. “Their houses were really damaged. We have almost 100 people to take care of now.”

Bull said the good news is that family members recently found his great-grandmother still in her house.

“We just got the call that they found her with some of my uncles. It’s hard to believe she was in the house during the entire time,” he said.

Bull is grateful to have found so many family members but said several are still missing.

“Man, we don’t know where they’re at,” he said. “All I know is that God protects everybody and if it’s their time, it’s their time.”

Zakiyyah Abdul-Mateen, in her first year at Fresno State said she is only one of seven family members living in California.

“Everyone else in my family is back at home,” she said. The home she is referring to is New Orleans.

Abdul-Mateen said she spent a lot of time yesterday morning excusing herself from her classes as she took calls from cousins asking if she’d heard from her aunt or other cousins.

“It’s been really hard, my family hasn’t been able to talk to anyone in the city but we have been able to communicate by cell phone by texting back and forth.”

Her cell phone, she said, has become her security. “It gives me hope. Even though the messages are delayed a couple of hours, at least we’re getting the message.”

Abdul-Mateen said the family has not heard from her aunt, Cynthia, since she went to look for her children.

“The water started rising really fast in her house. My family back there said that after she left to find my two cousins they never saw her again. All we can do now is just pray.”

Abdul-Mateen also has a bittersweet story. Although her family is still looking for two cousins and her aunt, she said she’s glad her uncle survived the worst.

“He waited until the water was up to his chin before he left the house,” she said. “Right now he’s living on the Broad Bridge near the Superdome waiting for help. At least we know he’s safe.”

She said even though the family is scattered, her family in California is trying to fly as many relatives to Fresno and Oakland, where her parents live, as soon as possible.

Her uncle and his pregnant wife are on the family’s list to come over first.

“They need to come as soon as possible for the baby. I’m trying to send for them to come live here in Fresno by next week. We just need help with money because my family has lost everything,” Abdul-Mateen said.