Baw baw baw. People think that New Orleans is the only city that exists in all of Louisiana. And they’ve somehow forgotten that Mississippi and other places were demolished by Katrina too. Just about everything you hear or read about hurricanes is about Katrina or New Orleans so it was refreshing to see that Miguel Bustillo wrote an article titled "Hurricane’s Forgotten Victims" recently in the Los Angeles Times that addresses just that. The summary reads: Four months after Rita and a world away from New Orleans, the ‘Cajun Riviera’ is still in ruins. Many fear they’ve been lost in Katrina’s shadow.

I wanted to thank the LA Times for giving some air time to Holly Beach and Rita victims wrote the following Letter to the Editor.

I’d like to thank Miguel Bustillo for bringing attention to the forgotten victims of Hurricane Rita in his February 6th editorial. I was born and raised in Vermilion Parish and spent many summers in Holly Beach. I first saw the size of Rita and her path which led right to my hometown while having dinner at Natalee Thai in Los Angeles. When I got home, I tied on my Holly Beach crabstring and beach shell necklace to feel some sort of solidarity with my friends and family back home. I knew they were on the "bad side" of the hurricane but hoped for the best anyway. My fears were confirmed when I picked up the LA Times and saw Holly Beach on the front cover, completely destroyed. The town was listed as Cameron in the caption but I knew without a doubt it was my family’s favorite beach.

Hurricane Rita destroyed so many of my friends’ homes but when people in California ask about my accent and I tell them I’m from Southwest Louisiana, the question that always follows is "Did Katrina destroy your family’s house? Did you live in New Orleans?" I tell them "No, my town barely felt a breeze when Katrina hit" and as I see them breathe a sign of relief, I follow up with "But a lot of people I know lost their homes in the flooding caused by Rita." They almost look baffled. How can this be? Even activists seem to have forgotten that all of the Gulf Coast was hit, not just New Orleans. Just two weeks ago I went to a political rally in San Francisco and repeatedly heard mentions of New Orleans and Katrina but never Rita or the Gulf Coast. I tried to do my part; each time I heard Katrina, I yelled back "Rita" and everytime I heard "New Orleans" I yelled back "Gulf Coast."

I thought after Rita hit people would realize that New Orleans isn’t the only city in South Louisiana. Sadly, I was mistaken. Just about everyone, even politically aware activists, has forgotten about the destruction that Rita caused in Cajun Country and the government’s following failures. I’m grateful that Mr. Bustillo and the LA Times have not. I hope to see the Los Angeles Times continue to report about victims of Hurricane Rita just as it has continued to report about the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Chrissy LeMaire
San Francisco, CA
(Formerly Kaplan, LA)

Here’s to more media coverage in the media on Holly Beach, Erath, Delcambre, "The Islands" and all of the other places affected by Rita and Katrina.