Vermilion Faith Community of Care
PO Box 554   Abbeville, La.  70511
 Voice/Fax: (337) 893-5589     E-mail:   vfcc@cox.net

Uniting the faith community of Vermilion Parish in service
through meeting critical human need.

Rita comes ashore, September 29, 2005

When Hurricane Rita was in the Gulf, the third most intense storm on record, almost filling up the entire Gulf, General Bob LeBlanc, the director of the parish’s Office of Emergency Preparedness, began issuing evacuation orders.  The first to go were Katrina evacuees, many with cash donations from VFCC to help them get away.  They were followed by thousands of the parish’s permanent residents, fleeing a possible storm surge.

From our positions as refugees in different spots in surrounding states, we watched as a weakened but still deadly Rita came ashore along the Texas/Louisiana line.

The first day brought news of destruction in Port Arthur, TX, and Lake Charles, LA.  The next couple of days, we watched regular reports from Vermilion Parish, where a storm surge had devastated many of the low-lying areas.

Those of us who returned to the larger towns of Abbeville and Kaplan found most of our houses in order - a few branches down, a large tree felled here and there.  In these areas, the damage was much less than that caused by Lili in 2002.

But for those south of us and those in other parts of the 100-year flood plain, there was devastation that was difficult to believe.  Houses smashed into small pieces.  Others picked up and moved down the street.  Or onto the street.  Piles of coffins from graveyards lying together in heaps.  Houses filled with layers of mud and oily sludge with a terrible stink.  Mold rapidly growing on the walls and furniture.  Furniture inside houses looking as if it had been smashed by an in-house tornado.

Dead animals - horses, cows, alligators, nutria and deer - littering the fields.  Sugar cane and other crops destroyed by the salt water.  Marsh ‘hay’ and grasses covering the fences.  All in all - catastrophic destruction that will take years to recover from.

Much of the plan of action that we were working on to assist Hurricane Katrina evacuees has had to be scrapped as we adapt to a post-Rita parish.  Many Katrina evacuees have not returned and are not expected to.  FEMA and the Red Cross and the National Guard are now in the parish in full force, ready to expedite the processes of financial aid and other assistance.

We continue working with shelters and distribution of goods, and help storm victims get access to available resources.  We have begun to move into the most devastated areas, bringing ‘flood buckets’ with cleaning supplies and health kits and a helping hand.

Our energies are getting more focused on what will undoubtedly be our major role - to assist families that have limited resources with home repairs and other aspects of the long-term disaster recovery process.  This was our role with Hurricane Lili, where we assisted almost 400 families in Acadiana, including 150+ in Vermilion Parish, in this manner.

To partnerships of the last few weeks, we are adding reestablished contacts with such organizations as Volunteers of America, United Way of Acadiana, Church World Service, and United Methodist Disaster Recovery.

We look forward to playing a continuing role in this process as long as we are needed.  And we hope that you will be willing to continue in partnership with us.

[VFCC Home] [Delcambre's Dilemma] [Rainbow over Erath] [Our Mission] [Our Logo] [Annual Reports] [Hurricane Lili] [Hurricane Katrina] [Hurricane Rita] [Katrina Cottage] [Project Erath] [Rita Photo gallery] [Princeton journal] [Rita comes ashore] [Day of Prayer - 2006] [Day of Prayer - 2007] [Project A-Manna] [Awards] [NCCC AmeriCorps] [Make a donation] [Contact us]