Tag: Hurricane Recovery

A Home for the Arts: Lake Charles Central School Building Restored

An old school building in downtown Lake Charles, Louisiana, has reopened its doors after years of repairs following the damage caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020. According to this article from The Advocate, the historic Central School building, which served as a cultural hub for the city, is once again becoming a thriving center for arts, nonprofits, and cultural organizations.

Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter expressed his excitement about the reopening, emphasizing the vital role Central School played in fostering arts and cultural activities. The building served as an incubator for aspiring artists, musicians, and performers, providing a space for them to work, collaborate, and inspire one another. Kari Casey, the director of outreach and programming for the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana, highlighted the benefits of having everyone in one place, enabling the exchange of ideas and a sense of community among the organizations.

The Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana, which lost its space due to Hurricane Laura, is currently awaiting the construction of its new building. Casey emphasized the collective effort to revitalize Lake Charles, particularly in the arts and humanities sector. The reopening of Central School is a significant step in that direction, as it reignites the city’s cultural spirit and provides a platform for artists to carry on the tradition.

The Lake Charles Little Theater, founded in 1926, also found a temporary home at Central School. After losing its original location to Hurricane Laura, the theater had been operating in borrowed and temporary spaces. With Central School reopening, the theater now has a permanent home, at least until it can rebuild at its old location. Brett Downer,the director of the theater’s board, expressed gratitude for the stability the school building offers, providing space for rehearsals, auditions, offices, and future shows.

In addition to longstanding organizations like the Children’s Museum and the Little Theater, newer organizations have also found a place within the historic school building. Smoke & Barrel, a nonprofit responsible for hosting the Smoke & Barrel whiskey and barbecue festival, as well as other events, now has an office in Central School. Saige Mestayer,the marketing and campaign director for Smoke & Barrel, praised the vintage ambiance of the building and highlighted the positive impact of having a dedicated workspace. The nonprofit is currently planning an early childhood education program in collaboration with the United Way of Southwest Louisiana.

The restoration of Central School was a challenging endeavor that required extensive care, as emphasized by Mayor Nic Hunter. Repairing a historic structure like Central School after a disaster is no easy task. The restoration project took nearly three years and cost the city $4.8 million. The city is hopeful to receive reimbursement from FEMA for the restoration expenses. Despite the challenges, the mayor stressed the significance of preserving historic buildings like Central School and the nearby historic city hall, which now hosts art exhibits and events. The Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana has established a special fund dedicated to the preservation of these historic landmarks.

Lake Charles has faced the dilemma of balancing historic preservation with economic redevelopment. Many historic buildings, such as the Majestic Hotel and the Arcade Theater, have been lost over time, leaving only memories captured in historic photographs. Historian Adley Cormier acknowledged the difficulties posed by recurring hurricanes but commended the city for its commitment to preserving Central School and other historic structures. The mayor expressed gratitude for the community’s embrace of these landmarks, ensuring that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

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Businesses, Bridge Side Marina, and more Return to Grand Isle after Ida

Left in the wake of Hurricane Ida’s path, the state of the city of Grand Isle was awfully grim, but as it is outlined in this feature article from Nola.com, nine months after the storm passed, things are starting to look up as anglers and fishermen return to the nine-mile island.

The feature article spoke directly to citizens of Grand Isle to take a reading on how the community was fairing this long after Ida, thus making the account of the island’s comeback reliable and promising to say the least. One local fisherman, Frank Dreher commented on the striking restoration efforts that have taken place in the area in the last few months.

Dreher said “the one thing everyone has to know is the island and the waters certainly do not look like what they did before the storm. Most of the debris has been removed and the demolition of some camps continues. It’s been a long road, and we got a lot of support from our friends, the fishermen we’ve seen for years. It’s exciting to be back and exciting to see our friends come back.”

After Grand Isle was hit particularly hard by the devastating winds, storm surges, and other effects of Hurricane Ida, the outlook wasn’t positive. The community was left without electricity, water, fuel, food, and all other comforts, making many business owners and camp owners begin their processes of rebuilding and reopening the island with heavy hearts. As outlined in the feature, it would be months before these workers would be aided with electricity being restored or support services coming back to the island, but the strong workers put in their best efforts to repair the island.

In October of 2021, charter fishermen like Frank Dreher worked with professional crews to clean up the island using their materials, boats, and wherewithal. These members of the Grand Isle community used their own free time to round up, procure, and supply the necessary materials to build back the island, and thankfully it paid off. When crews began the process of rebuilding the island’s stores, streets, and shores in October, they were joined by the reopening of Grand Isle’s big grocery store Sureway, which was operating on power from a generator. In the coming months, power and water followed, and hope was gradually restored.

One of the largest projects facing the islanders wanting to assist in the restoration efforts was the resurrection of the iconic Grand Isle staple: The Bridge Side Marina. Because it’s the first marina that visitors to Grand Isle see whenever they’re crossing the Caminada Bay bridge, it’s often synonymous with the city itself, thus making it the perfect restoration site for islanders Buggy and Dodie Vegas, who were interviewed by reporters from Nola.com.

Today, Bridge Side Marina is open once again, and it’s supplied with fuel, ice, live shrimp, tackles, minnows, and food. All of this means that enough is in stock to bring life back to the once-vibrant Marina, and there’s enough bait to ensure that enough life will be caught as well.

Community member Dodie Vegas was confident in Grand Isle’s comeback; he reported that the Bridge Side store’s deli is set to reopen in late May. Additionally, he told reporters, “It’s still a work in progress. We’re shooting to have bait boats providing live croakers for Memorial Day weekend. We had to rebuild docks, and we have a barge in the marina building a new dock,” he said. “And, we’ve rebuilt about half our rooms. The RV park is hooked up 100%, and we’re working around the fishermen in the morning and working on the place the rest of the day.”

Though, this Grand Isle comeback isn’t only because of the Marina’s return, because the Blue Dolphin inn and at least a half of a dozen RV parks are currently reopened and operating in the area alongside restaurants.

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Proposed Revitalization of Lake Charles Region

With long-term recovery aid from the federal government on the way to the city of Lake Charles, many are looking to revitalize the storm-stricken area with projects that rebuild the community stronger and better than it was before, according to this article from The Advocate.

Mike Nodier, the head of Polaris Engineering in Lake Charles, has a plan to revitalize the city of Lake Charles and have its community bounce back from the devastating, long-lasting damages accrued by Hurricane Laura and other storms. The plan in question is Nodier’s Bayou Greenbelt Plan which would connect a sprawling series of bayous and canals in Lake Charles via a 23-mile loop with a pathway alongside it. The ground-level pathway sitting beside the looping waterway would allow for kayakers, bikers, and walkers to all enjoy recreational activities in Lake Charles, a community known for its water-facing facilities.

Although the possibility of building it could help to improve the water drainage of the flood-prone Lake Charles, Nodier’s Greenbelt Plan is just one of a few ideas being considered by local officials who would like to see the region turn a corner from a string of natural disasters. Another proposal is to revitalize and further develop the city’s lakefront, which is a plan that’s been gaining some noticeable traction in recent weeks.

Mike Nodier expressed his inception of the Bayou Greenbelt Plan after assessing the already existing landscape of the area. He said, “we have so many natural resources here that kind of center around water — one of the reasons I came here. Let’s exploit what we’ve got. Let’s make do with what we have. And so that was the genesis of this idea.”

While many plans and proposals are floating around to improve the sustainability of the city, Lake Charles and the surrounding region are still feeling “staggered” by the effects of not only Hurricane Laura, but also three other weather disasters as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these successive events have weighed heavily upon rebuilding efforts that the city has started at various stages along the way.

Furthermore, it’s now known that both Hurricane Laura and Delta have had tremendous impacts on the region’s population, according to the recently-released population estimates from the United States Census Bureau. The 2021 data showed that the Lake Charles-adjacent region had some of the steepest declines in population in the nation.

In fact, when their population decreases are combined, both Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes had seen the biggest percentage decrease among metropolitan areas in the entire country. Cameron Parish’s population dropped by about 10% and fell to approximately 5,080, and Calcasieu Parish fell by a percentage of 5.3% to 205,282 people total. This news was especially devastating to Calcasieu Parish, as their communities had been growing steadily in size prior to the storms striking the area.

The greater Lake Charles region has been known for its chemical plants and energy production, which have been both beneficial in boosting the economy and detrimental in that they have polluted the water and air quality of the city. It’s because of these negative effects on the water and air quality that have motivated community leaders and city officials to emphasize quality-of-life improvements in the ongoing rebuilding process.

The director of the H.C. Drew Center for Business and Economic Analysis at McNeese State University, Dan Groft, relayed to The Advocate that the proposed projects will help to bring people back to the area and retain them in the region, thus helping the economy in turn. Groft had said, “we need to get the residents back and keep residents that are here. That will be crucial to the economic health of the region in the long-term.” Hopefully, the coming years will see the Lake Charles region bounce back in its various industries, despite the string of disasters that have stood in its way recently.

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Hurricane Ida Relief for Louisiana Citizens

Many Louisiana citizens and their families were unfavorably affected by the dangerous winds, storm surges, and torrential conditions of Hurricane Ida in August, but many Louisiana organizations and communities have banded together to create a plethora of resources for anyone affected by the storm to take advantage of, according to several news outlets, including KATC.

Hurricane Ida was the second major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, and it stands as one of the most damaging hurricanes to ever strike Louisiana. Worth noting, Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon on August 29, 2021: the sixteenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In its path, it left destruction that devastated the bayou and river parishes of Louisiana. In true Louisiana form, citizens across the state in areas less affected by the storm jumped at the opportunity to provide valuable resources and start mutual aid funds and donation drives for those impacted.

FEMA Assistance

All homeowners and renters in the 25 Louisiana parishes hit by Hurricane Ida can now begin to apply for FEMA assistance. On the Wednesday following the storm, Governor John Bel Edwards announced, “everybody out there who is a Hurricane Ida survivor needs to apply to FEMA for individual assistance. It doesn’t happen automatically. To apply, go to disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362.

Operation Blue Roof

One of the more immediately helpful resources available to homeowners in select parishes is the ability to apply to have the Army Corps of Engineers cover their damaged roofs for free by using fiber-reinforced sheeting throughOperation Blue Roof. To sign up, go to blueroof.us or call 1-888-766-3258. The Army Corp had installed approximately 14,000 blue tarps in southwest Louisiana last year after Hurricane Laura.

Food Assistance

In Ida’s wake, many grocery stores were closed, damaged, or both, meaning that much of their food supply was lost, defrosted, or destroyed as a result. This led to many food banks thinking of unconventional ways to procure food for the communities they serve. When they were made aware of this, authorities at the parish, state, and federal level began siling and processing paperwork to expand the state’s food stamp program to those suffering from the storm who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for food stamps due to their income level being too high.

In light of Hurricane Ida,  DSNAP,  the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is expected to be activated soon. This version of the program not only expands SNAP benefits to more people but also waives some previously-held restrictions such as participants not being allowed to purchase “hot food products prepared for immediate consumption” with their benefits. The waiver being applied for will allow for “SNAP recipients to use their benefits to buy prepared foods available at any retailer that accepts EBT cards, usually grocery stores.”

It’s expected that DSNAP benefits are be approved and go into effect one to two weeks after Ida made landfall, so until then citizens should pre-register by visiting www.dcfs.louisiana.gov/cafe or by calling 225-342-6700 between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Additionally, anyone wanting to receive DSNAP updates should text ‘LADSNAP’ to 898-211.

Outside of DNSAP benefits, Louisiana’s food banks have been hard at work coordinating with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry for supplies. Additionally, Koret Patty, the executive director of the statewide association of food banks known as Feeding Louisiana, applied on the Tuesday following Ida’s impact to temporarily suspend the proof of income documentation required for those receiving commodities from a food bank.

In the week following the storm, food banks in the greater Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas were setting up food and water stations across their respective cities; the Red Cross had set up mobile kitchens in LaPlace, Morgan City, and Hammond; several food and supply stations were installed across Lafourche Parish in Thibodaux, Raceland, Lockport, and Golden Meadow; and the Louisiana Workforce Commission was supervising the feedings conducted at state shelters.

Places to Donate

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