Remembering Rita and Helping Neighbors in SW LA
Fifteen years ago another devastating storm hit Louisiana's coast with impacts to our area
In 2005, the Bayou Region was becoming a second home to many families, friends and strangers who fled Katrina’s devastating aftermath. Little did we know our area was also going to experience our own devastating storm with a landfall 150 miles to the west.
Hurricane Rita hit our coast on September 24, 2005, near Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, as the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, reaching Category 5 status for 18 hours while approaching. Rita brought a nine foot tidal surge to our bayou communities and flooded nearly 11,000 homes in Lafourche and Terrebonne despite her landfall on the other side of the coast. Huge sandbags, helicopters and other resources had to be diverted from New Orleans’ recovery 70 miles north to Pointe Aux Chene, Dulac, and other bayou communities. Yes, we had experienced hurricanes before, but this one served as a startling wake up call.
Click here for the Houma Courier article on how Hurricane Laura was like Hurricane Rita, and the difference between now and then.
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Bird Eye View of Coastal Projects and Getting to Know ROR!
Several projects in our region are in construction or were recently completed
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At a time when jobs for our working coast are most needed and highly valued, restoration projects have begun in earnest. Caminada Back Barrier Marsh Creation and West Belle Pass are active construction sites, and the Houma Navigational Canal Lock and West Fourchon Marsh Creation will soon follow. These projects will provide critical storm protection complementing the area’s complex and comprehensive levee systems.
To get a good look at a few of these projects, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has captured a great point of view of several projects and areas along our working coast-- including projects in the lower Barataria Basin and east of the Mississippi River-- check it out!
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Getting to Know ROR!
To begin this new series, CPRA Chairman Chip Kline shares why he is passionate about the coast
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We're #GettingToKnowROR! We kicked off this series with colleague of Restore or Retreat, Chip Kline, the Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities, and Chairman of the CPRA Board.
You can also get to know Chip through a recent Delta Dispatches episode right after Hurricane Laura impacted our coast.
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Support the Solution!
For 20 years, our mission has been to implement large scale restoration for our irreplaceable region
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Every year in coastal Louisiana, we are faced with many challenges, but none have been greater than the challenge our state and nation face during this global pandemic. Coastal Louisiana has always been resilient, and we expect we will come through this extraordinary time stronger than ever.
While we have learned to work remotely and in different ways, our work at Restore or Retreat has continued. Working in the Barataria and Terrebonne basins, the heart of the worst coastal land loss in the United States, we focus daily on engaging communities and implementing real restoration solutions for the region, including projects such as freshwater and sediment diversions, barrier islands, shoreline restoration and marsh creation. Our work moving forward will reflect the continued sense of urgency to implement State Coastal Master Plan-level projects for the Bayou Region. We are proud to be working on the 2023 Master Plan, on outreach and engagement efforts in Lafourche and Terrebonne, and on bringing a coastal research center to Nicholls State University, among other efforts.
We will hope to see you soon as well. While we will be missing you at our annual fund raiser Rendezvous this year, we plan to bring a virtual annual meeting to our members to celebrate this year's coastal accomplishments and to toast our 20th anniversary. We have a few other good ideas in the works as well, so stay tuned!
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CPEX Smart Growth Summit
Starting September 29
10:00am
Baton Rouge
Off the Hook-Restore or Retreat Give Back Night
October 5
4pm until close
Houma or Thibodaux Locations
Governor's Advisory Commission
October 7, 2020
10:00am
CPRA Monthly Meeting
October 21, 2020
9:30am
State Capitol, Baton Rouge
CWPPRA Task Force Meeting
October 29, 2020
9:30am
USACE District Assembly Room
7400 Leake Ave, New Orleans
Oyster Lease Acquisition and Compensation Program (OLACP)
Tue, Nov 17, 2020
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Watch In Person: Lafourche Parish Chambers
Wed, Nov 18, 2020
9:00 am - 11:00 am
Watch In Person: Buras YMCA
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Achieving comprehensive coastal restoration since 2000
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Restore or Retreat is a non-profit coastal advocacy group created by coastal Louisiana residents and stakeholders who recognize that the Barataria and Terrebonne basins are the two most rapidly eroding estuaries on earth, and that this erosion represents an economic and ecological crisis. With a growing membership businesses and individuals, ROR seeks to identify and expedite the implementation of aggressive, large-scale restoration projects to protect this irreplaceable region.
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