Hurricane Katrina

Many of you have been glued to the television watching the drama unfold in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. We feel a special bond because SADD has so many chapters in these states. In our database, we list 427 SADD chapters in Louisiana, 151 chapters in Mississippi, 140 in Alabama and 438 in Florida, and we believe there are many more that are not registered. Many of you who have attended our national conference have met and made friends with students from these states.

Tisa Hill is the advisor to the Lafourche Parish SADD chapter. Lafourche Parish is just outside of New Orleans (click to see map). Tisa does not have phone service, but can access her email. We asked her to send a story about Katrina’s effect on her community.

"In 1893, there was a thriving community across the bay near Grand Isle, La. called Camanada Bay. No one knows about this turn of the century resort town accept those ancestors from Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Jefferson Parish. This community was pure acadian mixture...it had hotels, gambling establishments, fishing boats, etc. When the storm came the elders of the nearby community of Grand Isle warned Camanada residents but they refused to leave. The older wiser men of the community of Grand Isle had their own way of checking for bad weather...movement of birds, animals and what I like to refer to as the "science of the stick." The older men of the community were taught to throw a particular type of stick into the gulf and predict the weather ... story has it that this was a form of weather forecasting. As you may have figured out, the community of Camanada Bay was all but wiped out. Those who survived were interviewed over the years and have documented history videos on their accounts. They told stories of babies hanging from trees by their blankets and the all too familiar picture that is embossed in my memory is the young acadian girls hanging from the trees by their long hair.

Over the years in Southeast Louisiana my family has endured many storms such as the hurricane of 1896, 1916, Betsy in 1964 to mention a few, but we love our land that our ancestors settled for us. As I was growing up my grandparents, who spoke only French, told us never to forget the storm at Camanada Bay. Now, does this story sound familiar!

Yes, we need help. My community suffered wind and some water damage but was spared the brunt of the storm. We were spared by 25 miles. We were out of electricity for 3 days but most of Lafourche, Terrebonne, and St. Charles have some electricity...I am one. Electricity is scattered and so is phone usage. No cell usage, no banks are open, local stores have limited supplies of water, milk, bread, etc. And this is local!!! I cannot imagine a few miles from here. You guys are seeing evacuees being placed in Houston but we have many that are being sent here by truckloads...I mean in the back of newspaper trucks. All of the local community, recreation, and church centers are being used to house hundreds of people. Nichols State University is being used as an evacuation site and the nursing facility there is being used for special needs people. Our local hospital is being used as a place of refuge for those patients from the N.O. hospitals.

I was watching the local cable channel this morning and they were interviewing people at the Houma Civic Center. The Salvation Army (local chapter) stated they were in need of the following: towels, eggs, milk, aluminum foil, aluminum plates, saran wrap, dish washing liquid, baby food, soap, tooth paste, combs, brushes, shampoo, plastic utensils, paper plates, sheets, and pillows. We need to figure a way that we can gather these items and ship them to us and the kids and I can bring them to the local facilities. Today some of our local law enforcement will travel to St. Bernard and Jefferson Parish to assist in search and rescue. Yes, unfortunately some people are still out there stranded...at least they are hoping. Penny, usually I am so optimistic but I know how many people live in these parishes and I know what kind of conditions they live in. These people have limited resources...I imagine the death toll will be incredible."

Tisa Hill


What can we do?
The relief agencies are doing their best to keep up with needs. All of them say that what is most needed is money. We encourage SADD chapters to do fundraisers and send contributions to the American Red Cross or any one of the other reputable organizations that have established hurricane relief funds. These funds will be used all along the Gulf Coast to help communities in need. Here is a link to a FEMA advisory that tells you where to send money: http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm#donate

If your SADD chapter wants to collect goods to help the Gulf Coast evacuees, our Louisiana State Coordinators, Janice Williams and DC Sills, have agreed to collect your donations and make sure they are delivered to places that can use them. Anything that you send should be new, not used, and in its original unopened packaging. Here are the goods that we recommend you send:

You may ship your collections to:
Janice Williams
C/O Louisiana SADD
1408 Mohon St.
Alexandria, LA 71301

New!
Please share your thoughts on our SADD Hurricane Katrina Bulletin Board.

Youth Service America Seeks Stories of Young People Supporting Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort
We need your help to identify young people who are mobilizing resources to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In particular we are looking for youth-initiated efforts. These projects could be singular efforts or part of a community organization, faith based group, or a school. We also would like to have quotes from the young person talking about why they are compelled to support those in need. Please provide contact information so we may provide the media quotes. YSA will contact the young person directly or go through the group providing the information first. The young person will also need two levels of parental permission - first permission to share the brief project description and then if the media is interested in the project we will then seek permission for the media organization to contact the young person directly.

Send stories to Christina Wessell, Manager of Communications & Outreach- 202/296-2992 ext. 28 or cwessell@ysa.org.

For more information see: http://www.ysa.org/news_event/2005/press_release.cfm?pr=090205n_a

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