Survivors Whom Audrey Chased into Attics and Trees Tell Tales of One of the Deadliest Storms on Record

By Christine Rappleye, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas

Jun. 28–CAMERON, La. — Clifton Hebert said he has been asked if seeing the results of Hurricane Katrina’s wrath in New Orleans spurred Cameron Parish residents to evacuate for Hurricane Rita in 2005.

“How do you evacuate 99 percent (of the residents)?” said Hebert, the parish’s emergency management coordinator, of the queries he received. “We had the mother of all storms. Why should we worry about the evil sister?” Hurricane Audrey, that “mother of all storms,” slammed into Cameron Parish 50 years ago Wednesday, surprising parish residents with Category 4-force winds and a storm surge that drove many to their attics. Hundreds drowned in the storm, making it one of the most deadly hurricanes on record.

On Wednesday, under sunny skies and with a gentle breeze, hundreds of people, many of whom saw Audrey’s wrath first-hand, gathered in front of the parish courthouse to commemorate the anniversary with the mournful sound of taps as flags were lowered to half-staff.

They not only paid tribute to the dead, but honored the survivors.

“We are here to honor those who Audrey struck down and honor those who remained,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Joseph LeBlanc, the keynote speaker. “With bare hands and minimal tools, they showed the world they could rebuild and bury their dead.”

“We celebrate the rugged fortitude of those who live here,” said Judge H. Ward Fontenot of the 38th Judicial District Court. Fontenot is a Cameron native who was a student in Baton Rouge when Audrey hit. He told of hitching a ride on a boat to get back to the parish and seeing the mounds of twisted metal and wood.

Then he saw the towering courthouse, where many rode out the storm and survived.

Others who survived scrambled through the rising water to get to schools or sturdy homes.

Wayne Theriot, who was 10 at the time of the storm, took refuge in his home’s attic with several of his family members. But the surging water lifted the home off its blocks.

“It’s a very scary feeling to have no control of the boat,” said Theriot, who had a photo album of pictures from the storm. While they were floating, his dad made each of them promise that if they made it, they would move inland, coming back only to visit.

Theriot now lives in Iowa, east of Lake Charles.

Russel Broussard, 79, of Lake Charles was moving into a new home right before the storm hit.

As they were trying to get back to the new place, he and several others walked through deep water, guiding a floating car with almost 20 women and children in it.

About 155 people ended up in the second story of his home. He was almost blown outside when he tried to grab others seeking refuge.

Mary Ann January, 64, of Cameron and 15 of her family members clung to a fig tree as they watched the wind and waves break apart their home.

“Waves washed over us,” January said. Limbs her uncle, his young baby and her grandfather were holding onto broke and they were washed away. She also lost a sister who was staying with another family.

After the water went down, they went to a neighbor’s house and a boat later picked them up. They ended up riding in a military truck to McNeese College.

That fig tree survived until Hurricane Rita knocked it over, January said.

John Nunez’s mother’s birthday coincided with the day Audrey hit.

“I visited the graveyard and came here,” said Nunez, who was 11 during the storm. He mother died last fall.

“Water caught us in the car,” he said and they managed to make to a friend’s house where they rode it out in the attic.

“We were all saying a lot of prayers,” Nunez said.

The home Alvin and Ruby Murphy and their 9-month-old daughter stayed in with other family members had the east and west walls blown out.

The group was in the attic with water lapping at the eaves.

They survived because the north and south walls held and with “the help of God,” said Alvin Murphy.

Ruby’s mother rode it out in the courthouse and survived.

After Audrey, residents planted trees in the courthouse square. Those trees’ long limbs offered shade to those who gathered Wednesday.

LeBlanc was charged with restoring order to neighboring Vermillion Parish after Audrey hit.

“There was no communication, no electricity and no way to ask for help,” he said. Thanks to the help of ham radio operators and towers, they managed to cobble a message together to relay through Lafayette. “The sights I saw rescuing people, you don’t want to see again,” he added. From Audrey, officials learned they needed a plan to cover all disasters, not just the focus on a nuclear explosion; that parish residents needed to be prepared for the first 48 hours to 72 hours after a storm; and that more advanced warnings were needed.

LeBlanc also called for a seawall to be built to protect the parish.

“Southwest Louisiana must have surge protection,” LeBlanc said, adding it is home to cattle ranchers, rice farmers, marshes and industry that supply the country with fuel.

rappleye@beaumontenterprise.com

(409) 880-0727

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