I have two recent news stories, one from Louisiana and one Mississippi on the impacts of Ike and Gustav on a weary post Katrina/Rita populace. We’ll begin with the chief of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians in Isle de Jean Charles located in Terrebonne Parish. The Times Picayune tells the story, here is a long excerpt:
Chief Albert Naquin is tired. Tired of seeing his community flooded. Tired of begging for help.
More than a week after Hurricane Gustav pushed water over the ring levee protecting the island in south Terrebonne Parish, where descendants of several American Indian communities still live, Naquin, chief of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians, declared: “This is my last one. I’m not going to keep doing this.”
Naquin says it is time for the island’s remaining residents to move farther inland, surrendering their way of life to the twin threats of storm surge and coastal erosion. Continue reading “The Human Side of Mitigation: Stubborn but Weary – The Long Goodbye”