NEW ORLEANS For Theresa Dardar and her husband Donald, a boat ride through the picturesque Bayou Pointe-aux-Chenes and surrounding marsh in Southeast Louisiana has become a painful reminder of what’s been lost. As Louisiana’s coast disappears, important cultural sites like their ancestral tribal mounds are being swallowed up.
Wednesday officially marked 18 months since Hurricane Ida tore into Montegut, Chauvin, Pointe-aux-chenes, Dulac and other small villages along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. But it’s still common to see spans of FEMA-blue tarps covering damaged sections of roofs and walls.
It’s not surprising that residents of Grand Bayou Indiana Village might have trouble meeting a Feb. 28 FEMA deadline to file for Hurricane Ida assistance.