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Power lines are down in Franklin, La., 60 miles west of Raceland, La., where Houmas are sheltering.AP Photo by Matt Slocum

Gustav Moves On, Damages Still Unclear

By Victor Merina

With its winds spent and waters receding, Hurricane Gustav was downgraded to a tropical depression as Gulf Coast residents attempted to pick their way through the debris and assess the damage left behind by the violent storm.

Leaders of the United Houma Nation were among those trying to reach their hardest-hit communities to see whether Gustav had ravaged neighborhoods along the bayous and other low-lying lands where many of the tribe's 36,000 members live.

"We're quite frustrated now because we don't know the extent of the damage, and we haven't been allowed to see for ourselves," said Brenda Dardar Robichaux, principal chief of the Houmas.

In a telephone interview from her home in Raceland, La., Robichaux said she and other tribal members attempted to visit communities in Terrebonne and LaFourche parishes, which were in the direct path of Gustav and where many Houmas live. But she said police stopped her at a roadblock and turned back her party, saying that only emergency workers and other first responders were being allowed into the afflicted areas.

"People are very anxious about what awaits them when they come home," said Robichaux. She said she has fielded a wave of phone calls from worried tribal members who evacuated the area and were now scattered over Louisiana and other states and ready to return.

"We tell them that we're still unaware of the extent of the damages," she added. "No one has made it down to the bayou communities."

In a story published on its Web site today, The Courier newspaper in Houma, La., reported that Terrebonne Parish officials have barred local residents from returning to their homes until at least noon Friday. A 24-hour curfew remains in effect in LaFourche Parish, the newspaper added, while local officials determine when it will be safe to allow residents to return.

Gustav made landfall in Terrebonne Parish as a Category 2 hurricane before slashing through the state with 110-mph winds and heavy rain. Authorities said the brunt of the storm bypassed New Orleans and the threat of breached or broken levees never materialized.

Robichaux said that good news led many in the national media toward reassuring coverage with words that coastal residents had "dodged a bullet."

"But we don't know if that's the case in our community," Robichaux said. "We don't know how bad it is in the lower bayou where so many of our tribal members live. Maybe the houses are still standing, but that doesn't mean there wasn't an impact."

In Washington, officials with the National Congress of American Indians said they are watching what happens in the Gulf Coast and what damage Gustav has caused the Houma and other tribes in the area which include the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, Tunica-Biloxi and Coushatta in Louisiana.

"We are giving them moral and spiritual support," said Robert Holden, NCAI deputy director, adding that his organization is waiting for an assessment of tribal needs.

Holden said that following Katrina, Wal-Mart officials had provided a couple of trailers with supplies for the Houma and are ready to do the same in the wake of Gustav. NCAI, which represents 250 member tribes, also was instrumental in helping other Natives raise money to help those devastated by Katrina. And Indian Country is "on standby" in case there is a need to assist other tribes once again, he said, although the need may not be as great this time.

"There seems to be better preparedness … and it was not as catastrophic this time," Holden said.

Robichaux and 19 other tribal members rode out the storm at her home in LaFourche Parish and reported only minor property damage. With the power out and telephone service spotty, she said the group relied on generators, cell phones and the Internet — and the Houma Web site — to communicate with those who had evacuated. They also watched the single news channel they could access on a television set with its rabbit-ear antennae wrapped in aluminum foil to improve reception.

Cody Danos, an elementary school teacher and former tribal council member, said she tried to keep busy during the hurricane reviewing the spelling and grammar work of her second-grade students as well as grading their test papers.

Now she was eager to see her home in the Valentine area 15 miles from Raceland, she said. And she was especially apprehensive after recalling what happened three years ago when Hurricane Katrina came ashore.

"We had quite a bit of damage with Katrina," she said. "Not as bad as some people but still a lot of roof damage."

The 53-year-old Danos said she was worried about possible wind and water damage from Gustav and wondered what may have happened to their household goods, including a new computer system and other things the family had recently purchased.

"My husband is disabled, so it is going to be hard," she said. "It'll be a financial burden, and it will be hard to make ends meet."

Danos said she and her family — including her husband, daughter and two grandchildren — decided to stay and ride out the hurricane because the family didn't have enough money to spend on gas and the other costs of evacuating.

As the day heated up and storm debris was cleared, her 10-year-old granddaughter was busy skateboarding. Danos said the rest of the party tried to stay cool in the hot, humid weather that has followed Gustav.

Meanwhile, everyone is trying to remain calm.

Whitney Dardar, a commercial fisherman and father of tribal chief Robichaux, said that at 72, he and his wife yearn to return to their home in Golden Meadow, which is located near the Houma tribal center.

"Everybody is anxious to go back and see our homes," he said. "But we can't. The only thing we can do is wait."

Victor Merina is reznet's senior correspondent and special projects editor. A former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter and finalist for the Pulitizer Prize, he also is a senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism. Merina is a visiting faculty member at The Poynter Institute, where he leads seminars on cross-cultural reporting and writing about race.