Louisiana Floods

[OJsDad]

Brant, do you have family affected by the flooding in Louisiana?  Anyone else have anyone affected. 

[bayonetbrant]

Brant, do you have family affected by the flooding in Louisiana?  Anyone else have anyone affected. 

Of the family I've got there still, the aunts & uncles are OK, but the cousins are taking a hit.  That's all Dad's side of the family.

I have one cousin with a split-level house who has 8ft of water in the bottom level, and 3ft in the main level, but the bedrooms (for now) are OK.  They're staying at her mom's place with the baby.

Another cousin and his wife had to be rescued by boat when the road to their house washed out.  Apparently not much damage to their house, but 2 of 3 cars totaled (they have high-school aged kids who drive).  They're staying at my aunt's place, and that house is good since it's the highest lot in the subdivision (not saying much, but still...)

Second cousins seem to be OK so far - one had a 2nd floor apt near LSU.  Can't really get back to it, but no damage to it that they know of. 

It'll be interesting to see how the downstream family in Lutcher and Paulina fare.  There's a 35ft embankment along the river, so not worried about it overflowing.  But some of the wetlands behind them are pretty swollen and not sure how they'll behave as they absorb more runoff from further north.

The New Orleans branch of the family seems to be OK, as does the North Shore (mom's side).

One of my cousins in Dallas is collecting gift cards to send to family down in LA.  She's not asking anyone to go buy gift cards, just that if you've got, say a Target card left from a birthday that's still got $6.32 on it or something, to send those along.  Individually, they won't do much, but they'll all add up in the end.  If you're interested, LMK and I'll PM you her address.

Thanks for asking.  They're a pretty self-reliant bunch down there, so we hadn't looked into mounting a relief operation they same way we did for Katrina, when we hadn't heard from my grandmother and uncle on the North Shore in 2 weeks.

[Sir Slash]

Wasn't there a movie where a bunch of National Guard guys go into the Bayou to help out the locals and the Cajuns end-up eating them or something? Can't remember the name but it scared the Louisana crap out of me. Seriously, I hope everybody makes it out OK because Baton Rouge has been getting hit from all sides here lately. They deserve a break.

[Staggerwing]

Wasn't there a movie where a bunch of National Guard guys go into the Bayou to help out the locals and the Cajuns end-up eating them or something? Can't remember the name but it scared the Louisana crap out of me.

"Southern Comfort"? IIRC, it starred Powers Booth and one of the Carradine brothers.

[Sir Slash]

That's it. Stagger knows his Cajun Horror movies.

[bayonetbrant]

THE CAJUN NAVY

In the wake of all the chaos in our nation following the racial divide incited by our supposed leaders and main stream media, and bearing the loss of three good men in blue, we (Louisiana) were struck again. Families, friends, and civilians had not yet wiped away all the tears fallen for these three brave men. Even God cried with us.

On August 12, 2016, "the storm with no name" set in on southern Louisiana, and the tears of God began to fall. For the next 56 hours, torrential rain fell and fell and fell. It even rained in Tiger stadium. Between 15-20 inches of rain was the average that fell upon us with several areas reaching nearly 30 inches. All within 56 hours. Soon, southern Louisiana and her people would begin to realize the dangers that would ensue. We were blind sided. Although we've been battle tested through history by some of the strongest hurricanes imaginable, no one ever saw this coming. Some experts say this was a once in a thousand year event.

The flood waters began to rise. They began to rise and they did not stop. Within a matter of hours, our people saw their homes take on anywhere from 3 inches to 10 feet of water. No one had time to evacuate. Even those that tried would learn that the roads leading into and out of our neighborhoods were impassable. People by the thousands were stranded and scared for their lives. After weathering countless hurricanes through time, there was no foreseeable reason to run from a storm with no name.

From the depths of the swamps and the backwoods emerged an unsolicited fleet of men and women with intent to aid their brothers and sisters of this great state. Men and women equipped with the proper tools, equipment, and experience needed to take on such a task. Some of those in response had lost everything to the flood waters themselves. But they came. They came by the hundreds from far and wide. 4x4's pulling aluminum flat bottom boats rigged with outboards and surface drives. The only type of equipment that could get the job done. Nobody asked them to, they just came for the love they had in their hearts for Louisiana and her people.

THE CAJUN NAVY WAS BORN!

She was born and she was a well oiled and well prepared beast of a machine! Local officials had not the equipment nor the man power needed to take on such an endeavor. Cajun Captains and Sailors were launching their vessels and headed out into the unknown, putting their own lives on the line. For the next three to four days, both night and day, they patrolled the flooded neighborhoods pulling men, women, children, and pets from the water stricken lands. It didn't matter if you were rich or poor, black or white, foreign or native.....this Navy was coming to save you! For if it had not been for the many men and women of all colors, races, religions, and nationalities of this Navy, thousands of people could have perished.

It's only in looking back now that I have come to see that it was God's tears that were falling and caused this great flood. His tears caused us to unite. It came in a time when we needed it most. Let Louisiana and The Cajun Navy become an example to the rest of our battered nation. It's time to rise above and unite. "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

I salute the brave men and women of The Cajun Navy

Please share this with anyone you know that was part of the efforts, they deserve to be recognized:

Written and illustrated by:
Darren Hernandez

[bayonetbrant]

[OJsDad]

Are those any of those belong to your family. 

[bayonetbrant]

no, thankfully.  But my cousin knows the folks in the house on the far right

[Sir Slash]

Damn, that's rough. Looks worse than what we went through with Hurricane Charlie back in 2004.

[bayonetbrant]

at 4:45 there's a road sign for "Pete's Hwy" - that intersection is about 1/4 mile from my cousin's house

[yt]https://youtu.be/erG03EA8kcQ[/yt]

[Boggit]

I feel truly sorry for those guys. Will they get any government help?

And now there's been a big quake in Oklahoma of all places - a 5.9 according to the news. :(

[bayonetbrant]

The one thing that is going right down there is the government assistance started flowing very quickly so that people could get a lot of the wallboard and furnishings torn out before the mold set into the rest of the house. Especially since it's summer time, they didn't waste any time getting that working