Today marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Rita, the devastating storm that forced Matthew Broussard, general studies sophomore, from his home for five weeks during his senior year at Barbe High School in Lake Charles. Broussard, with his parents and sister stayed in Albuquerque, N.M. and then Alexandria during that time. Broussard said it was difficult to be cut off from friends and family for more than a month. “It was our senior year,” Broussard said. “We will never get that back.” Much of Broussard’s family lives in Cameron Parish and had to rebuild their homes. “There are still people that are displaced and don’t have their homes repaired,” Broussard said. According to a report by the Southern Education Foundation, one in six students from public colleges and universities in Louisiana dropped out the year Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. The foundation reported that 35,000 students did not return to their universities and colleges in fall 2006 because of the disruption. Broussard said that for about a year after Rita, almost all businesses in Lake Charles closed early and were understaffed. He said he noticed an increase in the population in the past two years but is unsure of the reason. Broussard said many people from his area feel forgotten as all the attention still focused on Katrina. “After everybody got back toLake Charles, nobody seemed to care,” Broussard said. “We didn’t have the National Guard or anyone helping us. We had to help ourselves.” Broussard said he helped his family as much as he could with the recovery of their homes and belongings and picked up debris in his neighborhood with his dad after the hurricane. “The community was a lot nicer afterward,” Broussard said. “People from the whole region helped each other and built it back again.” Broussard said his high school added 30 minutes to everyday for the duration of the year to make up for the month that the school was closed. Craig Blanchard, University alumnus, was a political science junior when his hometown of Sulfur was hit by Rita, where his parents were living. “In Sulfur, you couldn’t move around the streets for three weeks,” Blanchard said. “My parents evacuated but came back and snuck past the guards because they weren’t letting anybody in yet, and they lived off their generator in their house for two weeks.” Blanchard, who housed some friends from Sulfur in his Baton Rouge apartment for two weeks, said that Katrina overshadowed Rita. “But I think Katrina needed to overshadow Rita because the area hit by Katrina had a lot more damage,” Blanchard said. “I think both areas were equally compensated.” In August, a state appeals court overturned a decision that could have helped homeowners in disputes with insurance companies receive major payouts. Many residents in areas affected by Rita and Katrina held insurance policies with no flood coverage. “I just hope all the people get the compensation from the insurance companies and that everyone is taken care of,” Broussard said. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said in her column released Sept. 17 that she plans to improve the state’s Road Home program to assist homeowners still requiring aid in areas affected by Rita and Katrina. “So far, more than $300 million in actual construction funds have been spent on the ground in the parishes most devastated by Rita, with hundreds of millions of investment on the way,” Blanco said in her column. “The governor is going to Washington, D.C., in October to meet with congressional leaders and will be asking for $4 [billion] to $5 billion to get into the hands of the homeowners,” said Marie Centanni, Blanco’s press secretary. The governor outlines in her column the progress made in the past two years, including the approval of $16 million for long-term recovery projects in Cameron, Calcasieu and Vermillion parishes by the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which also helped fund McNeese State University’s grant for improved research capacity and potential economic benefits. Also $25 million in state and federal funds helped construction of a new South Cameron Memorial Hospital, which is the only hospital serving Cameron Parish and offshore workers nearby.
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