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Started By
Message
Remembering Hurricane Audrey June 27, 1957
Posted on 6/27/25 at 4:55 pm
Posted on 6/27/25 at 4:55 pm
My parents knew many people who lived in Cameron Parish and survived it. Mom had taught school there during WWII (best paying in the state)
Two stories from friends, the first lived in Lake Chuck with family summer home on Big Lake at Old Settlement. He had a nice little boat he loved as a teen which was loaned to the Cameron Sheriff Dept to search for bodies in the marsh. The boat never came back. There was a dead baby and a dozen adult bodies which had been washed to their summer home, also 19 cows.
Our recently retired veterinarian had spent his summers in Creole at the family marsh ranch. He and several cousins jumped out of a 2nd floor window into an oak tree as the water began to rise to above that level. The wind stripped every stitch of clothes from his body, including shoes and socks. After the water subsided, they walked several miles to where a store had been and ate cold beans ouf of cans which they found in the rubble. A number of his relatives had drowned in the house.
Interesting that the aid given was a tent with board walls given to each family by the Red Cross and most had built new homes where the old ones had been by Christmas that year. That was all the assistance given, other than initial say in high school gyms and clothes donated to them. No FEMA checks but no goofy rules for rebuilding. No insurance either
Two stories from friends, the first lived in Lake Chuck with family summer home on Big Lake at Old Settlement. He had a nice little boat he loved as a teen which was loaned to the Cameron Sheriff Dept to search for bodies in the marsh. The boat never came back. There was a dead baby and a dozen adult bodies which had been washed to their summer home, also 19 cows.
Our recently retired veterinarian had spent his summers in Creole at the family marsh ranch. He and several cousins jumped out of a 2nd floor window into an oak tree as the water began to rise to above that level. The wind stripped every stitch of clothes from his body, including shoes and socks. After the water subsided, they walked several miles to where a store had been and ate cold beans ouf of cans which they found in the rubble. A number of his relatives had drowned in the house.
Interesting that the aid given was a tent with board walls given to each family by the Red Cross and most had built new homes where the old ones had been by Christmas that year. That was all the assistance given, other than initial say in high school gyms and clothes donated to them. No FEMA checks but no goofy rules for rebuilding. No insurance either
16
Posted on 6/27/25 at 5:42 pm to CitizenK
I know many stories. My mom and dad were good friends with dr young from pecan island. Women folk from there would come to my mommas in grand isle to play cards during the winter. One lady was crossing a fence line with two of her kids and Lost both of them.
Another’s brother was a young boy and was floating across White Lake with the family. A water mocassin bit him on the belly kid died before daylight.
Dr Clark was in Cameron. Many dead.
The Air Force sent helicopters to pull cows out of the marsh. They needed to rebuild the herd.
One man built his house so tight out of cypress that it floated North to the Intracoastal Canal. Put in a barge after the storm and brought it home.
There is a book out there about it also. Guy from Bayou Lafourche wrote it.
Another’s brother was a young boy and was floating across White Lake with the family. A water mocassin bit him on the belly kid died before daylight.
Dr Clark was in Cameron. Many dead.
The Air Force sent helicopters to pull cows out of the marsh. They needed to rebuild the herd.
One man built his house so tight out of cypress that it floated North to the Intracoastal Canal. Put in a barge after the storm and brought it home.
There is a book out there about it also. Guy from Bayou Lafourche wrote it.
This post was edited on 6/27/25 at 5:46 pm
Posted on 6/27/25 at 5:46 pm to CitizenK
My Dad was in high school at Lake Charles High when Audrey hit. He volunteered to help some of the victims in Lake Charles. He said that those people who came in from down on the coast were shell shocked by what they went through.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 5:51 pm to CitizenK
Posted on 6/27/25 at 5:54 pm to TheHarahanian
There are a number of interviews on DevDoc youtube channel. One boy lost his entire family, lived in the marsh ate what he caught, worked at a gas station and still went to school.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:16 pm to CitizenK
My dad worked for an electrical cooperative and had to go over to help with power restoration.
Audrey was on his mind every time the weather people said the "H" word. It affected him deeply and he said he would never live closer than a hundred miles of the coast.
Audrey was on his mind every time the weather people said the "H" word. It affected him deeply and he said he would never live closer than a hundred miles of the coast.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:20 pm to CitizenK
My former neighbor was in the Boy Scouts back then. He said even they were used, to go in the marsh and pull out dead people.
This post was edited on 6/27/25 at 7:03 pm
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:39 pm to CitizenK
Had an older, colored farm worker near Bunkie swore on his life “that the storm approached Bunkie, he split it by swingin’ a double bit axe into the ground, then it went down to ‘camera’, and to’ ‘dey asses up”…
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:40 pm to CitizenK
Heard quite a few very disturbing stories from some old timers. Those people were tough as nails, although I know of one lady that lost her mind. Between Rita, Ike and Laura Cameron Parish is a shell of what it was.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:47 pm to LSUEnvy
quote:
Heard quite a few very disturbing stories from some old timers. Those people were tough as nails, although I know of one lady that lost her mind. Between Rita, Ike and Laura Cameron Parish is a shell of what it was.
Cameron and Vermillion parishes were as big as any county in the USA in cattle production, before and by a few years later. A drop in prices hurt that business in the 1980's. The were shipped off to be fattened (except for Micelli's in Lake Chuck).
Those who rebuilt as young adults after Audrey had a hard time facing rebuilding after Rita. Plus, it is much easier to drive down from Sulphur or Lake Charles than it was even after the highways were paved. I well remember waiting up to an hour for the pontoon bridge at Gibbstown or at Carlyss/Hackberry to close.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:48 pm to CitizenK
I worked with a guy about 20 years ago that had to fly over the area from Holly Beach to Lake Charles. He would find the bodies by looking for red spots in the marsh...bodies had turned red from bloating and the sun. He would radio in locations so rescue could find bodies....
Posted on 6/27/25 at 7:09 pm to TheHarahanian
quote:
All Over But To Cry
Should be mandatory watching for all kids in LA high school. Great doc.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 8:28 pm to BamaCoaster
The only thing needed for Cameron residents to evacuate since then is that a tropical storm might be coming. They are gone without hesitation.
Looking at population it rose after Audrey but dropped a lot after Rita. South Cameron h.s. was the consistent state small school wrestling champs at least in the late 60's and thru the 70's. Some tough mofos there. Only two classes back then, large school and small school.
Looking at population it rose after Audrey but dropped a lot after Rita. South Cameron h.s. was the consistent state small school wrestling champs at least in the late 60's and thru the 70's. Some tough mofos there. Only two classes back then, large school and small school.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 8:50 pm to CitizenK
South Cameron had 1 graduating senior this year. Unfortunately there’s no young generation left there. The only people down there is older people and industry people.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 9:49 pm to CitizenK
My parents and relatives always told stories about it - lots of anecdotes about snakes hanging from the telephone poles and the like…
Posted on 6/27/25 at 10:30 pm to CitizenK
My grandmother was in Grand Chenier when it hit. Her father, worked for Wildlife and Fisheries at Rockefeller, chained them to the biggest tree in the yard and they road it out. Her cousin lost his wife and young child to the storm and was never the same. It devastated Cameron Parish.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 10:54 pm to CitizenK
I was about 6 months old when Audrey hit and my mom would tell the story of she had just put me in my bed in their bedroom when a tree was blown over and hit our house and started caving in the roof above me. She said she grabbed me out of the baby bed and ran into another part of the house and got into a closet until the storm passed.
The town we lived in measures 95 miles inland from Holly Beach/Cameron and would have been on the right side of the storm. I would have to guess it was still kicking butt when it hit our rural central Louisiana town.
The town we lived in measures 95 miles inland from Holly Beach/Cameron and would have been on the right side of the storm. I would have to guess it was still kicking butt when it hit our rural central Louisiana town.
Posted on 6/28/25 at 6:26 am to TheHarahanian
How do you get this? Stream or DVD?
Posted on 6/28/25 at 7:40 am to rockford177
Audrey arrived much earlier than expected. Lack of hurricane hunter frequency for storms west of Florida was the cause of lack of information. We didn't have satellite and very little radar to watch them. Storm intensity was unknown.
Some families had packed to leave that day.
Some families had packed to leave that day.
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