Edward Becker salvaged one thing from his Katrina-flooded home in Chalmette before contractors leveled it in 2005. The black jumpsuit and sequined cape he’d worn to the New Orleans Saints’ preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens on that fateful August weekend were still hanging in the bathroom where he he’d left them three months earlier. He took the muddy, oil-stained outfit to the dry cleaners and made an impassioned plea.
“I told them, I lost all of my pictures and family valuables – I need this,” Becker said. “I don’t care what it costs me, I want it cleaned.