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"After the State of Louisiana and her people faced two killer hurricanes (three weeks apart) in 2005, reading this book raised the level of appreciation for the people of the Gulf Coast, their love for each other, their land, their culture, their faith, and their strength!" --Sen. Willie L. Mount (LA) In June 1957, Hurricane Audrey formed deep in the Gulf of Mexico in the Bay of Campeche, 460 miles south of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It took direct aim at the small towns along this coast, moving due north for four days. The coastal communities of southwest Louisiana were poised to evacuate, but then something went horribly wrong, resulting in a massive death toll.
This is an historical account, the memoirs of several familiesi1/2the Griffith, Clark, Bartie, Marshall, Cagle, and Broussard clans. Each of the families struggled for survival in different settings. Some took refuge in their attics, others in trees or on rafts that were once floors, walls, or rooftops. Exposed to the elements, they soon realized that the hurricane was but one enemy; the creaturesof the swamp were yet another.
Hurricane Audrey left three generations emotionally scarred, and only now, decades later, are they able to talk about their terrifying ordeal. Years of research and meticulous attention to detail during interviews with survivors bring each
familyi1/2s torment to light in surprising clarity. The result is a rare and dignified portrait of human survival.
On the Back Cover
A DIGNIFIED, SPELLBINDING ACCOUNT OF ONE OF THE WORST NATURAL DISASTERS IN LOUISIANA HISTORY
"Cathy Cagle Post, a native but only a child at the time, brings Hurricane Audrey to life again. Reading this book raised the level of appreciation for the people of the Gulf Coast--their love for each other, the land, their culture, their faith, and their strength!"
--Sen. Willie L. Mount (LA)
"A compelling page turner . . . her chilling historical narrative sweeps us into its black waters along with the six families fighting for survival. . . . I could not put the book down."
--E. R. Jung, author of %iTestimonial to a Habit%r
"I could even hear the wind again as I relived the gruesome events of that day, and I thank God for the life he has given me. So many died . . . why were we spared?"
--Elaine Broussard Trahan, Hurricane Audrey survivor
Few people who saw Hurricane Audrey's fifty-foot tidal wave lived to tell of it. Indeed, the events surrounding Hurricane Audrey were so horrific that three generations were left emotionally scarred--and for over thirty years most of the survivors found it too painful to speak of their ordeal, until now.
At dawn on June 27, 1957, the hurricane slammed into the sleeping Gulf Coast twelve hours ahead of its predicted landfall. Residents were poised to evacuate, but the early arrival of this category-four storm resulted in a massive death toll of more than five hundred people--almost two hundred of them children.
This nonfiction narrative reads like a suspense novel, revealing previously untold details of Hurricane Audrey at a gale-force pace.
A native of Louisiana, Mrs. Post has retired to Las Vegas. Her family is one of the six chronicled in this true account. This is her first book.
Front Cover Glimpse
"There was no way to alert the sleeping towns along the coast by television--most TV stations were off the air at that late hour. . . . One phone call could have made the difference . . . but no such call was placed to the Cameron Parish Sheriff's Office or the Civil Defense command center in the Cameron Parish Courthouse, where a short-wave operator was on duty. No evacuation alert went out to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office. . . ."
Hurricane Audrey killed 526 people in 1957, outweighing in number the total lives lost in Hurricanes Betsy, Camille, and Andrew combined. Yet, fifty years later, few have heard the full story of this natural disaster that devastated coastal Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
The first hurricane to be tracked by radar, Hurricane Audrey duped meteorologists and residents alike, arriving at 145 miles per hour at dawn, twelve hours ahead of schedule. Although many residents did close businesses and pack cars to depart, the Weather Bureau and the local news never called for an official evacuation, nor did they alert citizens to the sudden change in the storm's speed. In the storm's aftermath, Cameron Parish assistant district attorney Jennings B. Jones filed a lawsuit on behalf of one hundred families in U.S. Federal Court (Whitney Bartie v. United States of America) against the Weather Bureau--the first of its kind.
This touching and riveting portrait of the days before, during, and after the hurricane's wrath offers a firsthand glimpse of life in this coastal community. Boat captains, schoolteachers, oil workers, fishermen, cattlemen, business owners, farmers, and characters such as the eighty-four-year-old bicycle-riding Tommy DeBarge, the thirty-two-year-old Dr. Cecil Clark, the only physician in Cameron, and Miss Nona Welch, the town's registrar of voters, color the pages of Hurricane Audrey, bringing their stories of survival, terror, and tragedy to life with bittersweet precision.
The author began writing this historical, nonfiction account during the summer of 2004 and finished it the day Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005. One month later, Hurricane Rita slammed into almost the exact location where Hurricane Audrey made landfall. While Cameron Parish suffered near total destruction once again, no loss of life occurred, because there was a complete evacuation of citizens--as there has been since Hurricane Audrey.
Author Cathy C. Post was raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as one of nine children. She has worked as a teacher and legal secretary and has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Las Vegas, Nevada, where she is enjoying retired life with her husband. This is her first book.
About the Author
Cathy Post is a graduate of McNeese Sate University, a retired high school and kindergarten teacher, and a former legal secretary for the district attorney and Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Lake Charles, Louisiana. A native of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Mrs. Post and her husband now live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her family is one of the six chronicled in this true account.
