Hurricane Rita, Cameron Parish, Louisiana The Cameron Parish Pilot, Cameron, La Submitted by Kathy Tell Date 25 Jan 2006 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Where are they now? Report on the evacuees By NELL COLLIGAN Page 3, The Cameron Parish Pilot, Cameron, La., November 24, 2005 First things first: one apology is in order. I think I omitted Hackberry in naming the places we would love to hear from. I know you had destruction too, so please write. I need to call around and try to get news of our precious Aunt Helen Colligan. It was hard enough to imagine Hackberry without Doc, but not to have Aunt Helen there is the crowning blow. By next week, I will find out where she has finally settled down. DONNA BAILEY SPONSELLER I received the nicest letter from Donna Bailey Sponseller, Don and Joyce Bailey’s young daughter. She is living in Branch, La. 70516 with her husband Joe and her little son, Zoey. She says she is feeling so isolated and lost, just wishing “to see a friend or hear a familiar voice.” I know many of you can identify with that. Please, those of you out there who know Donna, fill her box with letters. When everything else is lost, there is nothing better than news from a good friend. That is the purpose of this column, to put you in touch with one another. And even if you don’t know her, some of you old timers who went through Hurricane Audrey, send her a card and let her know how you got through the lonely days right after that storm. Coupled with the devastation was the grief for all the lost loved ones, so even though Rita was more destructive, we have our lives to be thankful for. Getting back to Donna, I need to mention that she said that her parents and her brother, Carey, are now in Church Point. MYRNA CONNER BUCK STEVENSON Myrna Conner called to say she is living in Sweet Lake; They are putting a FEMA trailer on their land and planning to rebuild. I think I heard a tear in her voice, so let her hear from you. Buck Stevenson called to say that they are still living in their home in Big Lake although the house sustained about $40,000 in damages. They plan to begin repairs soon. Their daughter Suni is at McNeese while the younger one is still with them at home. Their son Cody is a plumber and lives near here in Youngsville. Boy, are his services needed EVERYWHERE! SONNY MCCALL Sonny McCall’s sister, Mamie McCall Reynaud, emailed me to let me know that Sonny and Janie are living with Janie’s sister, Peggy and her husband, Tom Managan in Maxie, La. CONWAY LEBLEU SYBIL MCCALL JENNY JONES BERCIER MARGARET JONES She also said that Conway and Virgie LeBleu bought a home in Lake Charles and that Sybil McCall and Jenny Jones Bercier are living with them for the time being. Margaret Jones is also in Lake Charles, living near them. My son Kevin and his family are coming for the week. Kevin has been so anxious to go to Cameron so he will probably make it there on Friday. I would like to go back with him but Granny will be babysitting with the girls, ages 7 and 10. I understand children are not allowed yet. It seems impossible for Kevin to imagine the town and neighborhoods of his childhood destroyed. I saw where they are bulldozing Cameron Elementary. That will be a heartbreak for Kevin, Elaine and Tim to see that empty lot, as it is for all of you. We went to New Orleans Sunday with our daughter, Elaine to see the devastation there from Hurricane Katrina. Actually, we saw more total destruction in Cameron, but we did not go into the 9th Ward area. I am sure the destruction there is much worse. It is just the sheer number of homes, hundreds of them, block after block, with “blue roofs” and with residents’ belongings piled up in driveways and on the roadside. Heaped on the neutral grounds of a boulevard in Lakeview is what seems like mountains of household debris of every description. Farther down the boulevard are more mountains of trees, limbs and yard debris. Elaine lives six blocks from City Park on North Hennessey. All the shrubs and grass in Elaine’s neighborhood are dead except for the beautiful camellias blooming in her front yard. There was no water on her street until the 17th Street Canal levee broke. The water rose three feet to within one inch of getting into her house. Even so, she has been displaced since the storm and does not expect to be back in her home until February or March. Her house is 113 years old, and with the wisdom of the old days, was built of cypress and is a little over three feet off the ground on brick pillars. The duct work for her central unit and even her wiring were all under her house instead of in the attic. The wiring beneath her house got wet, and until she has an electrician to inspect and replace the wiring, she cannot have her electricity connected. The waiting lists for electricians in the city are endless. Yet, when she looks at the devastation around her, continuing to be displaced seems a small inconvenience. She is thanking God for the wonderful friends who have opened their home to her. The first Thanksgiving prayers in our country were offered after a period of great need and sacrifice on the part of our pilgrim fathers. They all knew they had much hardship yet ahead of them, but having seen the bountiful harvest, they took that day to thank their heavenly Father and to ask his help in the months and years ahead. May the peace they knew then be with each of you this Thanksgiving Day as you work to rebuild Cameron Parish or to start anew in some other place. God bless you all. The CAMERON PARISH PILOT- Weekly Publication Jerry and Joy Wise, P.O. Drawer 1486, Cameron,La. 70631-8998