HURRICANE KATRINA: A STORY FROM PLAQUEMINES PARISH-BURAS LOUISIANA

Buras, Louisiana: Where Katrina 1st Came Ashore- Our Story: After the Storm

Buras Watertowers 2005 and 2008

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Continue reading below for the story of how Katrina changed our lives.

-Buras Water Tower If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Plaquemines Parish and Hurricane Katrina

Plaquemines Parish is the "toe of the boot" shaped Peninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico below New Orleans. It is one of the most unique, and beautiful natural areas in the United States.

August 29th, 2005 changed our lives forever. Our home, our community and the most part of our Parish below Jesuit Bend and most of the entire east bank of the Parish was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

No one living outside the Gulf Coast area can imagine or picture what Post-Katrina life is like here.

Imagine losing everything familiar to you. You have lost your home, all of your family has lost their homes, and your neighbors have all lost their homes.

The stores you shopped daily are all gone.

All the post offices, banks, funeral home, lumber yard, coffee shops, flower shops, gift shops, clothing stores, restaurants, they are all gone.

The rambling old Victorian house that you rented till you bought "THE HOUSE", is sadly gone, most familiar landmarks, are all gone.

Imagine looking for something so familiar to you perhaps a close friend's property, (you just knew their driveway was RIGHT THERE!) or the site of your place of worship and you can not find it because the land has been so changed.This is extremely unnerving!

Your friend who lived in the town 20 miles north of you lost everything she had and so did all of her neighbors.

Your friend who lived in the town 15 miles south of you is in the same situation.

It is not just in your town or community but in all the areas around you for miles and miles and miles, all are gone. The nearest area of normalcy is over 50 miles away.

Not one person who lived in this area is untouched by it.

Most everyone you know has been changed by an event so huge that still, over 4 years after the fact, upon meeting someone you do not know; perhaps the nurse taking your blood pressure or the cable guy installing your dish, you first speak almost in whispers of where you went to escape and the losses you sustained.

Losses that go far beyond possessions.

Never again will you come home from work and chit chat with your neighbor over the bushes in the drive.

Never again will you go fishing and the old man who lives next door to your fishing partner "come see" and eagerly ask what you caught and then tell the stories of the plentiful fish of his day.

Your workplace is gone, your place of worship is gone, your schools have consolidated, many of your friends, family and neighbors have moved, never to return.

Loss of community, loss of familiar ways of life, many times loss of life.

In Plaquemines Parish we had over 98% evacuation, and lost only 3 KNOWN lives to the storm.

Unfortunately it is a sad fact that the victims of Katrina go far beyond those actually lost in the storm itself. Many have died from stress related problems in the days, weeks, months and even years after Katrina.

As the rest of the nation, for the most part has moved on, we are still here, living the reality of life after Katrina.

This is our story.

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Katrina Radar Shot Hitting Plaquemines Parish- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Southern and Eastern Plaquemines Parish was the 1st area in Louisiana hit by Katrina.

We took a direct hit from the massive storm...along with the category 3 winds, Katrina brought a 28 foot Tsunami-type storm surge that hit us dead on.

We were "GROUND ZERO!!!"

Buras Water Tower Collapsed - If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Buras Water Tower

Buras Flooded Arial shot-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Buras, Louisiana

Buras Flooded arial shot #2-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Buras, Louisiana

THE TRIP HOME

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On September 29th 2005- Exactly one month after Katrina tore our lives apart my husband and I returned to Louisiana from Arkansas where we had been in a tortured exile, separated from our family and friends and wondering what we would face once we came home.

We knew it was going to be bad but nothing could have prepared us for what we found.

Plaquemines Parish runs the length of the peninsula that juts out below the New Orleans area. The land area within our peninsula is very, narrow and is encompassed on either side by levees with the Mississippi River splitting the parish in half. Thus when our levees were topped and broken we became a very long soup-bowl from which the waters had to be pumped out. Once the southern part of our Parish was dewatered (Plaquemines Parish re-flooded September 23rd with Hurricane Rita pushing water back into our Parish) we were able to return to what had once been our home.

My husband made an initial trip on October 3rd and our streets were still slimy with oil and mud as you can see from one of the pics.

On October 8th, 2005, exactly 40 days after Katrina the road-blocks to South Plaquemines Parish were opened for residents to inspect their properties, so we made the trip down as a family with our two sons. My oldest son's father-in-law, and Danny Conaway, one of our close friends who is also a professional videographer accompanied us.

It had been 40 long, hard days since we had evacuated. On the way I had a picture of my home in my mind of how it was when we left, I tried to prepare myself for what I would see as I knew it would be very bad, but NO AMOUNT of preparation would get us ready to accept what we would soon see...

Our Home Before Katrina-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Our Home Before Katrina

DESTRUCTION!!

On our journey we left the semi-normalcy of Belle Chasse and headed south into what looked increasingly like a bombed war zone. Or some crazy apocalyptic movie set.

Imagine driving for over 50 miles and seeing nothing but destruction!

As we approached West Pointe a La hache there was no doubt in our mind of what we would find.

Houses that had washed into the middle of the road now lined Highway 23 like empty sentinels sad, and alone. Warning us of what was to come.

House in Canal Washed from Diamond area-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

This home in diamond washed well over a quarter of a mile, maybe even half a mile to end up in the canal.

House washed onto Hwy 23-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Home on hwy 23; notice the debris on the roof eave!

House on Hwy 23-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

House on Hwy 23 Happy Jack Area upper Port Sulphur. Only the power lines stopped its progress toward the road.

The houses that semi-survived the hurricane force winds and then the tsunami-surge waters that engulfed and ate our levees were left mangled and scattered about like a giant's muddy toys...but most were washed completely away. Many washed into other peoples property... whole houses up-ended and scattered like they were tumbled in a giant muddy washing machine.

In Port Sulphur the horrifying sights just got worse. Whole streets of houses had washed into other streets. It was unbelievable.

Home Collapsed-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Port Sulphur
Homes Washed onto Road-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Home on top of 18 wheeler-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Home on Truck

Port Sulphur Library-(I also worked at this branch from time to time)- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Port Sulphur Library

Regions Bank, Guillbeaus, Family Dollar, Port Sulphur-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Guilbeau's, Family Dollar, Regions Bank- Port Sulphur

Homes washed onto Hwy 23 from Carrol Lane, Empire/Nairn, Louisiana-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Homes washed onto Hwy 23 intersection of Carrol Lane, Empire/Nairn, Louisiana

Seafood Truck Impaled on Tree-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

This truck belonged to my Sister-inlaw's next door neighbor in Empire/Nairn, Louisiana.

Seafood Truck Impaled on Tree--Photo from video shot by Danny Conaway Shot the first time I went down the road. If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Photo taken from video shot by our friend Danny Conaway

It is impaled through and through on the tree across the road from both houses.

Linda and Robby's house- Empire-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

My sister-inlaw's house was gone completely,nothing left but the front steps and the Kitchen Sink!

What took the house out?

A tornado?

Did it implode?

You saw the truck above.

We can only imagine what happened in this area.

We think the remains of the 3 bedroom 2 bath brick and wood home eventually washed across the street into a mega debris field made up of over 20 other splintered homes.

We never found a piece big enough to identify the house.

Buras Library right after Katrina-(my workplace) If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Buras Library -soon after Katrina- When recovery workers finally inspected the library packs of sausages were found on the ROOF of the library from Delta Grocery Store next door. And a sofa hung in the top branches of the tree behind the library.

Buras Library Before Katrina (me at work) -- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Buras Library July 2005 -Just Before Katrina

Buras Library After Katrina-(my workplace) If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Buras Library After Katrina

Our Communities - Our Lives

As we continued on I was numb with the enormity of what had happened, it wasnt just my home or even my street or our little town, it was over 20 towns and small communities in our area washed completely away. 3/4 of our Parish is destroyed or severely damaged. On the East Bank of the Mississippi from Braithwaite to Bohemia total destruction. On the West bank from Ironton to Venice and beyond to "The Village" a a United Houma Nation Community located South of Venice on Tidewater Road.

Even Beyond that, downriver to Pilottown home to riverboat pilots.

Both of our son's homes had flooded in the Metairie, Louisiana area and they were homeless also.

I knew Hurricane Rita had re-flooded us and had done the same tsunami-type damage to Vermillion and Cameron in Central and Western Louisiana. I knew what had happened in Mississippi .

Imagine a path of destruction beginning at the Texas/Louisiana border and continuing through all Mississippi to Alabama .

It was overwhelming. Life as we knew it on the Gulf Coast was gone forever.

Our Street House Blocking way-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Our Street- Our Neighbors House has washed into the street.

BURAS

It is very hard to write about what we found in Buras, all of what we had known as a life was violently destroyed, nothing was untouched. I knew home as we had known it was gone.

Several things struck me on that first day.

Buras was surreal. It was silent, silence.

The smell was overwhelming and so strange.

No birds! There were no birds to be found. None flying or in trees. None singing, chirping or peeping. It was dead, spooky SILENT, with no movement above! When you are accustomed to an area that is normally teeming with birds and wildlife and then suddenly there is none, you notice it!

No insects, I never saw a fly or an ant, a grasshopper, nothing, they soon returned but they were not there that day, nor for a time after.

It was so dry. Like all the moisture had been sucked out of the atmosphere. The ground and street was covered in baked, dried, powdery mud.

The animals that were there looked traumatized beyond help. In Boothville we saw horses on the highway looking so lost and lonely, I cried.

Seeing the community that I love so much in this state of violent obliteration was demoralizing. I have grieved for Buras and Plaquemines Parish like I would have grieved for a loved one. I truly miss what was and to this day it is still very difficult to see.

Our House Before Katrina-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Our Home Before Katrina

Our sad Twisted Wreck-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

After Katrina- Our house was picked up off it's piers and washed violently back 50 feet where it cracked apart.

Our Roof Collapsed-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

After Katrina

Me in our House Before Katrina-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

Before Katrina- In my BEAUTIFUL Kitchen

Daniel in our kitchen-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

After Katrina- My son Daniel found my Dad's antique saw in the kitchen-(You can see the water levels on the wall behind him)This picture was taken in front of the same window I was standing in front of in the "before" picture above.

Photo taken from video shot by Danny Conaway

Our kitchen-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

After Katrina- Our Kitchen -Amazingly in the window you can still see a ceramic "heart" my friend Jeannie gave me long ago. It survived!

Photo taken from video shot by Danny Conaway

My reaction & hugs from Daniel-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

-After Katrina- My reaction was complete shock and disbelief! Daniel tries to comfort me!

Photo taken from video shot by Danny Conaway

hugs from Joshua-- If photo doesn't load Right Click on Red X and click on Show picture to load Photo

After Katrina- Joshua trying to assure me that we will all come out of this OK. I still wonder if we will!

Photo taken from video shot by Danny Conaway

In the end...we are now home, back in Buras.

Is it the Buras we knew prior to Katrina?

No, and it never will be.

Sunset

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