I just returned to Florida after working in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana for the month of December.
Prior to going to Plaquemines, I was told that the place had been devastated from Hurricane Katrina. There are virtually no stores, no restaurants, very few schools, hardly any lodging and very little in the ways of amenities.
We were working in a town called Empire and staying 20 miles south in a town called Boothville.
This area is about 90 miles south of New Orleans.
Who even knew there was life 90 miles south of New Orleans? It is a long stretch of road, Hwy 23, with the Mississippi River on one side and bays to the Gulf of Mexico on the other of the thin span of land.
Not to take away from the destruction and devastation that happened in New Orleans, Plaquemines Parish was basically wiped off the map. I do not remember the media discussing this area at all.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Plaquemines was a robust community. Its economy was mostly based on the commercial fishing and the oil refinery farms (as the locals called them). Three plus years later, it is a virtual ghost town.
The refineries are up and running, with most of their employees living out of the area. They are transported in by helicopter.
Approximately only 10-20 percent of the residents who once lived there have returned. There was nothing for them to return to. And there is very little still. The area was under 18 feet of water for over a month.
Residents and visitors must travel up the 70 miles plus in order to get groceries or basic supplies. There are still mounds of debris on the sides of the roads. There are destroyed boats on the sides of the canals or waterways. There are mausoleums’ missing their caskets. There are the skeletons of the schools, grocery stores, police and fire departments, hardware stores still standing. Twisted roadway signs still hang from their supports. There are still small camps of FEMA trailers. But I think the saddest sights I saw were the countless concrete steps leading to nothing and the foundations of onetime residences. Sometimes there would be only the fireplace standing. A tire swing hanging from a tree with a rusted bicycle twisted around it left me in a flood of tears.
As I was down there, I listened to our representatives and pundits on the TV discussing the $700 Billion bank bailout, most of which the officials cannot even tell us where the money went to.
I couldn’t help but wonder what $1 Billion dollars could have done for Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
I’ve been back for a few days and still have a crew down there working, but I am haunted by what I saw.
I found this video of Plaquemines Parish on youtube that was posted after the hurricane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeb1Pn8kG48 It tells the story of what happened to this community.
Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, I will never forget you.
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