A 62-year-old Houma woman died Monday at a Red Cross shelter in Amelia, officials said.
The woman, whose name was not released, had evacuated to the facility to escape Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in south Lafourche Aug. 29.
Jimmy Broussard, St. Mary Parish emergency operations coordinator, said the woman had come to the shelter with a friend.
“She appeared to have died in her sleep,” he said Tuesday. “There were no signs of any foul play and she had underlying health conditions. She was talking normally and everything before she went back to sleep. And someone went to wake her up she didn’t wake up. As of now no next of kin has been identified, so we are withholding her name until that happens.”
There are about 300 evacuees inside the shelter as of Tuesday, Broussard said. The woman had tested negative for COVID-19.
The incident is not connected with the evacuation of about 850 residents into a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse during the storm, Broussard said.
In an email Tuesday, the Red Cross expressed sorrow about the woman’s death.
“The American Red Cross would like to extend our sincerest condolences for the individual who passed away yesterday,” the organization said. “We understand that this is another upsetting event on top of the devastation and challenges left behind by Hurricane Ida just a few short weeks ago. Red Cross volunteers trained in mental health and spiritual care are available for anyone needing someone to talk with.”
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The incident remains under investigation.
“The stress that’s involved with going to a shelter and leaving your house and everything else behind or not even knowing if you have a house to go back to can really take a toll on people,” Broussard said.
— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.
