Louisiana Residents Return Home to Devastation

By Bill Horan
President, Operation Blessing International

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA – Late yesterday I went on a tour with the fire chief and a district representative to the east bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish. They both confirmed that they have “many residents” who were badly hurt by the BP oil spill, and a large percentage of them are still out of work because of it. The effects of the spill are far from over. “The oysters and shrimp have not come back,” they told me, and many fishing families have suffered fiscal meltdown as a result.

Then came Isaac. The new levees in St. Bernard stopped flooding into that parish, but the new high walls “funneled all that water into Plaquemines and ruined everything.”

Every single building has been flooded—either ruined or severely damaged. There are boats and burial vaults strewn helter-skelter all over the road and sloped alongside the levy. There is a sweet rotten smell that covers the soggy land and seems to seep into your pores.

More than 800 families are now returning to this section of Plaquemines Parish to find their homes devastated and their belongings destroyed by floodwater. Our team went with Urban Trueil, who has served as a fire chief in East Plaquemines Parish for more than 30 years, to visit his home and see the devastation firsthand. After surviving Katrina, none of these hard-working families were prepared for what Isaac brought. “No one assumed that we would see water here,” Chief Trueil told us.

Already, we have received nearly 700 requests from families here in dire need of assistance. These families are beleaguered, bewildered and broken—and they need our help.

For those of you who have given to help these hurting families, I cannot thank you enough. Your compassion is providing relief in their greatest time of need. Just today, we received a phone call from a lady who saw our mobile kitchen from the highway and immediately exited off, telling us how excited she was to see that help was available.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward CBN’s Operation Blessing International’s disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery.
Please make an on-line donation today.