The Forgotten

I've been patiently waiting for inspiration to strike. Well, strike it has.

As those who have read the archives here know, I grew up in Cameron parish, which was ravaged by Hurricane Rita. Because no one died in the storm and no one is publicly crying about not having a place to live, the residents of this coastal community, not to mention the storm itself, have been forgotten by the media. One week ago the evacuation order was lifted for the areas south of the Intracoastal Canal, so Wednesday we made the trek to southwestern Louisiana to illuminate the plight of its people.

Our first stop is the temporary post office in Calcasieu parish. Three ZIP codes come to this central location to get their mail. What they also find are friends and relatives that they haven't seen since their exodus began. It has become a place for many to begin the long process of healing wounds that cut to the core of their being, and whose scars will forever remain. From there we made our way south, toward the coast. These once familiar surroundings are now a desolate waste, my vision haunted by the shades of structures that no longer stand.

The town of Cameron is eerily empty. It takes and experienced eye to identify the progress being made, and only someone who has tromped these trails before can know how much work has truly been accomplished. On my first visit water covered these streets and I had to detour around demolished domiciles to find my parents home. Now those same streets are dry and cleared of debris, but still lined by homes that are nothing more than shattered shells and crumbling construction.

Our story can be found here: http://www.2theadvocate.com/wbrz/videos/2186347.html