Stories from Hurricane Isaac

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NOTE: This is a guest post from Cherri Foytlin, who is a journalist, mother of six and wife of an oil worker who lives in south Louisiana. She is the author of “Spill It! The Truth About the Deep Water Oil Rig Explosion.” This post was originally published on the Bridge the Gulf Project.

On August 30th and September 1st, I took a ride out to document some of the South Louisiana communities that have been affected by Hurricane Isaac. My last day ended in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, where flood waters and high winds have devastated this small community of fishing families. At present, most are without power, many have lost all of their possessions, and some are still trapped in their homes, which are filled with 3-5 ft of water. Here you will find their take on the disaster, in their own words, spoken in the midst of losing all that they own.

I feel it an honor that these humble people stopped to share their thoughts and stories with me. I wish to stress that is all of our responsibility to amplify their voices so that they may be heard across the nation and world. I truly have not often seen such devastation, nor such grace or courage in the face of overwhelming loss. Please share their comments widely.

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All photos are courtesy of Cherri Foytlin.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Fred H.

4:34PM PST on Jan 6, 2013

Thank you Colleen, for Sharing this!

January 6
send a green star

Danuta W.

12:21AM PDT on Sep 17, 2012

Thanks for sharing this article

September 17
send a green star

Luna S.

2:21PM PDT on Sep 16, 2012

I did not see our hear any of them rioting,stealing,looting and demanding like New Orleans people did in Katrina. These people want to work rebuild and fix the problem instead of having their greedy hands out for more freebies.I hope they prosper

September 16
send a green star

JL A.

10:16AM PDT on Sep 13, 2012

so glad people keep remembering to put faces and personal stories to such tragedies that collectively we must address, usually via government services and programs

September 13
send a green star

Aud N.

2:04PM PDT on Sep 12, 2012

so sad:-(

September 12
send a green star

Norma V.

1:06PM PDT on Sep 12, 2012

Sad and life continues....bless the courage of those who survive the worst.

Abbe A.

9:16AM PDT on Sep 12, 2012

tragedy has a face

Past Member .

7:28AM PDT on Sep 12, 2012

Wouldn't it make more sense to build new neighbourhoods [in their entirety] out of harm's way rather than repair them at the risk of further flooding? In this way the land could be used to create national parks and recreational areas. Further development should be banned - I wouldn't want to see business developer's profit from a person's personal loss.

Debbie W.

6:57AM PDT on Sep 12, 2012

The levees are part of the problem. For years we have tried to control the waters of the Mississippi River and all we have done is prevent the building of new land in the delta area by building up the levees and putting control locks up to stop the river from moving like it historically does. The river bed has always moved, until man decided they knew better than nature. These actions have caused errosion of the delta lands and stopped the creation of new delta land. If people want to live there, fine. But they should know that they will flood, and that they need to live in a way that will protect them and the delta lands.