Reznet

Reznet File Photo by Martina Rose LeeBrenda Dardar Robichaux of United Houma Nation: "I'm reaching out to tribal leaders" in case there's an emergency.

Louisiana Tribe Braces as Storm Approaches

By Victor Merina

DENVER—New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin abruptly left the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday and was prepared to evacuate the Gulf Coast city if Tropical Storm Gustav develops into a damaging hurricane and hits landfall.

Nagin told PBS's "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer" that the storm could shift direction but he was cutting off his trip because of fears that Gustav could possibly turn into a Category 3 hurricane. The Associated Press later reported that Nagin left Denver and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) also planned to return home.

Nagin told PBS interviewer Ray Suarez that "all models say it's coming toward us and we're going to hunker down and get ready for it."

Nagin's sudden departure on the eve of Barack Obama's acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination underscored the gravity of yet another potentially devastating storm on the eve of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

The aftermath of Katrina and another hurricane, Rita, which rolled through the Gulf Coast region less than a month later, is still a devastating memory for coastal communities, including members of the United Houma Nation, Louisiana's largest tribe.

More than half of the Houma's 36,000 tribal members were displaced by the twin storms, and Principal Chief Brenda Dardar Robichaux said late Wednesday that members are bracing themselves for the worst.

"It's still too early to tell," she said in a telephone interview from Raceland, La, "but we are watching it very carefully and people are very concerned."

Robichaux said some tribal members are still living in FEMA trailers while others have only recently returned to their homes. They are now worried about a repeat of the violent winds that tore rooftops and the storm surges that flooded homes along the bayou and near the gulf. Tribal leaders are particularly concerned about Terrabonne and LaFouche parishes, she said, and how to help those who live there.

"If they have a catastrophic impact and devastation, how would we react?" she said.

In addition to meeting with local and state officials, Robichaux said she has tried to contact leaders of the Jena Band of Choctaw, whose community is located six hours away in Louisiana. In the wake of Katrina, the Choctaw offered to let displaced Houma use a local gymnasium for shelter, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

That could change this time, Robichaux said, adding that she also plans to call the Coushatta Tribe, located three hours inland.

"I'm reaching out to tribal leaders so we could all work together to evacuate our people if need be," she said.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has already declared an emergency situation for the state.

As of 11 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Gustav's center was west of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, and about 100 miles south of Guantanamo, Cuba, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving west-southwest at about 8 mph. The center is expected to pass close to Jamaica on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. However, Gustav is expected to increase wind speed over the next 48 hours and regain hurricane strength by Friday.

Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1,800 people when it struck Aug. 29, 2005. Communities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast were demolished and parts of New Orleans flooded when the city's levee system failed.

[Editor's note: Read reznet's special report, "Katrina, Rita and the Houma: A Nation in Recovery," published last April.]

 

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.