‘Hard-headed’ grandma rescued from Ida floodwater by boat in MS Coast neighborhood
Eileen Delle didn’t want to leave her home.
Catastrophic Hurricane Ida was headed ashore and her granddaughter’s family was evacuating the Shoreline Park community in Bay St. Louis, where they all live. It was Saturday night and Ida was supposed to make landfall Sunday night in Louisiana.
Delle, 80, thought she would keep an eye on the weather until Sunday morning and decide what to do. She had lived in the flood-prone community since 1978 and seen plenty of storms.
Her granddaughter, Ashton Weaver, said that she, her husband and their children left about 9 p.m. Saturday.
“She told us, ‘I’m going to keep watching the water,’” Weaver said. “She’s just hard-headed.”
By Sunday morning, the water was rising and Delle was stuck. But she really didn’t mind. She wasn’t scared and said the wind really wasn’t that bad, she said.
Rescue in Bay St. Louis
Monday morning, Weaver was waiting on the shoulder of Mississippi 603 for her father to bring Delle up the road in a boat.
Delle’s house was elevated and she was safe, but her family did not want her sweltering without air conditioning. Weaver waited for the boat with three of her four children, one of them in her pajama top.
“We didn’t know we were coming to rescue Granny,” Weaver said.
Soon, a boat was motoring toward them with Delle in the bow. Her son helped her out when they reached dry ground on the shoulder of the busy highway.
Delle had just moved back into her home about four months ago after having her right leg amputated below the knee, another reason her family was concerned about her.
They helped her to her son’s truck and settled her in the back seat.
Truth be told, she didn’t really want to leave her house Sunday.
“I thought, I better go,” she said. “It’s getting kind of warm.”
Tuesday is Delle’s 81st birthday. She will celebrate with her son and his family in the Kiln community, where, she said, they have a “nice” house.
Her son said, “We’re going to have cake and ice cream, for sure.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 2:59 PM.
