denise cooper's family including her wheelchair-bound mother lucille matthews sheltered in an attic as the storm. the family asked me to help get lucille down that slippery staircase. michael had left to get reinforcements, and sure enough he came back. the coopers were able to evacuate with just a single suitcase and a few bags in hurricane ida coming 16 years to the day after hurricane katrina. >> the worst case scenario, it did not happen. we did not have another katrina. and that's something, again, we should all be grateful for. however, the impact is absolutely significant. >> i am concerned about our state. i am concerned about the health of the people in south louisiana. from one end of the state to the other. >> reporter: dr. catherine o'neal is the chief medical officer at our lady of the lake in baton rouge. >> it's different from katrina but in many ways it's the same. >> reporter: she was a resident in 2005 during that deadly storm. >> it's a different time. it is a different place. and yet this morning it felt very similar because all communications were down today for th