Boots For The Bayou

Shrimp boots. Cajun Reebooks. Swamp Nikes. Delcambre Reebox. Cocodrie Converse. Rain boots. Call them what you want but Southeast Louisiana needs new boots! We are raising money to purchase new rubber boots for communities affected by Hurricane Ida down the bayou in Lafourche, Terrebonne, Jefferson, and Plaquemines Parishes. 

It has been nearly three weeks since Hurricane Ida slammed into Southeast Louisiana as a historic category 4 storm. The scale of the storm's devastation feels too great to put into words. Residents have been left to face destruction to their homes and businesses that ranges from a broken window to total structural collapse. Many of the region's working boats, including shrimp, oyster, fish, and industrial supply boats, have been damaged. Some lie overturned in the middle of Louisiana's bayous while others were picked up by Ida's winds and deposited onto dry land, where they remain.  Folks down the bayou are still struggling. Some are living in ruined homes without electricity (or running water, in specific areas), in the brutal heat of the Gulf Coast summer. They are surviving in part to the kindness and assistance of strangers. Others are displaced elsewhere in the homes of families and friends or crammed into hotel rooms. Despite it all, folks are getting back to work by picking up the pieces, cleaning up, and rebuilding to bring life back to Louisiana's bountiful and culturally rich coastal landscape. No one can say a Cajun or their fellow bayou residents aren't hard working, even in the face of one of the United State's most intense natural disasters. 

Individuals and groups across Louisiana and the globe have mobilized to provide direct aid and support to those impacted by Hurricane IdaWe have delivered supplies, hammered tarps onto broken homes, cooked countless meals, raised money, and more.  I have personally been raising money to purchase relief supplies and delivering them down the bayou as a one man operation in a station wagon out of New Orleans.

In conversations with residents of South Lafourche, one need has started to appear again and again. Rubber work boots. Bayou Lafourche and their neighbors are ready to clean up after the storm. This means removing mud (up to a foot in some homes), waterlogged building materials, debris, and more from properties. Hurricane season isn't over yet, which means the threat of floods remains in the area.  Many have lost their sturdy shoes, alongside most of their possessions, and need new pairs to get to work. One man even had the misfortune of watching Ida's winds carry his shrimp boots off of the front steps where he always left them.

With your donations, I plan to work alongside fellow mutual aid organizers and groups to purchase, deliver, and distribute work boots to those affected by Hurricane Ida. We will be purchasing multiple pairs in men's, women's, and children's sizes. As recovery progresses, we will reassess the needs of clean up and work to provide them. 

Who knew that one day there would be a shrimp boot shortage in South Louisiana? New footwear is just one step in the journey back to normal after Hurricane Ida and just one of the many ways we can assist those in need.  Any amount helps - no donation is too small or too great.  There aren't enough ways to express the gratitude of those down the bayou. Thank you. 

(Photo copyright of Denny Culbert)