Communities devastated by recent hurricanes hope to recover quickly. But for the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe, which was hit by Hurricane Ida in 2021, recovery has been slow.
The Category 4 hurricane arrived in southern Louisiana on August 29, 2021, destroying the homes of dozens of tribal members and damaging grocery stores, churches and former school buildings in the community. Most residents decided to rebuild, hoping to use technology and materials that would better withstand future storms. But progress has been slow—the first homes won’t be rebuilt until 2023—and now, three years after the hurricane, Kristina Peterson of the nonprofit Lowlander Center is spearheading a fundraising and volunteer recruitment effort to Helping Pointe-au-Chien recover, says only two houses have been completed.
Pointe-au-Chien tribal member Theresa Dardar is one of the few whose homes survived the storm. Immediately after the storm, she helped coordinate donations to the community and is a board member of the Lowlander Center. Yale Climate Connect talks with Theresa Dardar and Kristina Peterson about Hurricane Ida, the pace of recovery, and what communities still need.
Yale Climate Connection: Can you start by telling me a little bit about your expectations before Hurricane Ida actually hit, what happened when you evacuated, and how long you had to be gone?
urgent: If you watch the news, you always have plenty of time to get out of the way. We were watching the news, so we knew from the forecast that we were going to get hit, so we had a few days to prepare, but we didn't know where we were going, and we didn't know what it was going to be like until we heard it was going to happen. Until Terrebonne-Lafourche Parish came on the line, it had been taking direct hits. Our community is divided into two parishes – separated by an estuary – and that’s where Ada comes in.
So on Friday we decided to go to my brother's house in Houma [14 miles north]then my brother and his wife decided they needed [evacuate, too]. So the closest [my sister-in-law] Can find a room in Texarkana [400 miles away in Texas]and she only found one room. They left Friday and we left Saturday night, arriving in Texarkana a little after three in the morning, where my brother, his wife, their granddaughter, me, my husband and two dogs stayed in a hotel room.
We stayed until Tuesday, [and then] We entered Pointe-aux-Chenes, but there was a little water on the road, [my husband] didn't want to go through the water with his truck, so we [waited until Wednesday] We rode home with his brother in his brother’s old truck.
As we came off US-90 in Bayou Blue, you could see the devastation. When I saw the destruction there, I think my mind went crazy because I thought, “I can imagine what our community looks like.” It's terrible. We lost almost all our houses, so we only had 12 houses and very little damage.
YCC: How do you feel when you see your home?
urgent: Very painful. It's like a war zone because there are no leaves on the trees, everything looks lifeless and the houses have been torn down. My mother-in-law, who was 88 years old when Ada was born, said they had never experienced a storm that severe. But as climate changes and the water gets hotter, I think we can expect storms to get stronger.
YCC: What was the atmosphere like in the community when you first came back? Are you considering moving elsewhere, or have you decided to stay and rebuild?
urgent: Well, my house was one of the ones that survived, but we never thought about leaving. Everyone in the community was determined to stay, so they stayed with their families until they could get a FEMA trailer.
Now, we do have an elderly couple [that] The house was moved because the man said he was too old to continue rebuilding. Then two young couples ended up moving, but that was because rebuilding was too slow.
Peterson: “Are you moving?” This question involves many different things. The Pointe-au-Chien are an Indian tribe that have existed for thousands of years. When you ask about moving, it's not just about people, it's about attachment to ancestors; it's about attachment to a way of life, and the way a community gets its livelihood and its soul is by being.
The flip side is that when this tribe – or other tribes – seek federal recognition, they must show continued ties to the place. Picking up and moving, therefore, is not only disconnected from their ancestors and their ancestral ways of life, but also from the possibility of being recognized.
Editor’s note: The Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe is Approved Enacted by the state of Louisiana, but not the federal government. It is seeking federal recognition.
urgent: A lot of times when reporters follow Ada, they ask, “Why did you stay?” I always tell them “Because we are part of this land.” If you pull out a tree, let the roots dry out , it will die. We feel like this is what will happen to us: if we leave our land, our spirits will die.
YCC: So when you start rebuilding, what are your considerations and most pressing needs?
urgent: Volunteers and money.
Peterson: Reaching Pointe-aux-Chenes requires some effort. [And with] It's difficult with all the destruction around [to get to after Hurricane Ida]volunteers went to more accessible locations, so the Pointe-au-Chein tribe received little funding and no help in rebuilding [immediately after the storm].
Two years after the storm, six volunteers from the Brethren, Disciples of Christ and Presbyterian churches [came down and] Start clearing away the debris and building a platform on the piles left from the first house. We all felt strongly that if we could at least raise the money to start this process, it would be like the Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come.
Then we started recruiting some other volunteers so we now have two houses fully built and under roofs. One of the guys who came was retired from the Institute of Home and Business Security and he understood the need – not just for reinforcement – but beyond reinforcement [buildings]. Therefore, the homes we are rebuilding will be reinforced so that the entire community can withstand wind pressure and storm surges.
YCC: Can you describe some of these construction techniques?
Peterson: A hurricane strap is a very basic strap [technique]. The way the roof is installed, not with braids but with rafters, the type of connection of these rafters, heavier beams, windows with the highest storm resistance, the bolts used to secure the house, the type of tape used on the roof to prevent leaks in the seams, Additional filters that can cover the entire roof before installing shingles and/or metal roofing, hip roofs rather than other forms of roofing. So different designs can withstand pressure, can withstand wind and the type of pressure from rain, wind or storm surge.
YCC: How is the situation now? How many buildings have been rebuilt, and how many more need to be rebuilt?
Peterson: Well, almost three years later, we have two houses with roofs. We still have many, many things to do. IDA funding has disappeared, so we are working to find foundations and other entities to support the cultural survival of a Native American tribe that is not only rebuilding, but rebuilding in an exemplary way that can be a target for other coastal communities .
YCC: What does this long-term displacement mean for people’s lives? What impact did taking so long have on the community?
Peterson: Think about the children. I was talking to a counselor in the Terrebonne school system and she said she sees kids attending as many as 14 different schools. When families must live with different relatives, children are displaced to different schools. So it's very, very difficult.
The death toll is rising, perhaps not directly from the hurricane itself, but because people are starting to get sicker and have a harder time seeing doctors and getting the resources they need. It's almost like the soul becomes sick and then the rest of the body starts to falter.
urgent: Community members are in FEMA trailers now, but they spent a long time at a relative's house before getting one. It's still a difficulty because people want to be at home and not in FEMA trailers.
Peterson: Staying home also means staying present throughout the community. It can see your neighbors and talk to you. It’s the holistic interconnectedness that nourishes the heart and soul of a community. When you're fragmented like this, there's a huge price to pay. Different buildings where people gather were hit hard. The local supermarket owned by one of the members was destroyed; everyone went there to find out what was going on. The school was attacked. church. This takes a toll on people physically, mentally, psychologically and spiritually.
YCC: Usually after a disaster, any climate disaster, there's a lot of activity in terms of volunteers and funding. But recovery takes a long time, and after a few years attention will shift elsewhere. So can you talk about some of the ways you’re finding volunteers and funding now?
Editor's note: If you'd like to donate to the community, you can do so here.
Peterson: We recruit through a variety of networks, including universities, friends, faith groups, community and civic organizations. We're getting the word out to various places and hopefully some people will get involved.
We need long-term volunteers. We need short-term volunteers. We need volunteers who can come in for a day and help clear the debris. Some houses must be demolished 1724931999 Because nearly three years later, the house [were] damaged [during Ida] Becoming more vulnerable to weather, therefore more damaging, and more dangerous. So the longer you wait, the higher the cost and the more complicated things become.
Every time volunteers come in, it means tools, lumber and other plumbing and electrical materials have to be provided, which means we have to raise funds to provide those materials for the workers. This is a very complex process. So we need both funding and talent.
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