Here's part of a newspaper article with quotes from Grand Island officials: Island community all but vanishes in hurricane's wake 12:55 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2005 By DAVID McLEMORE / The Dallas Morning News LAFOURCHE PARISH, Louisiana -- The line of trucks idled impatiently in the muggy heat as residents waited their turn at the checkpoint blocking traffic into Grand Isle. They wanted to see what was left of their resort homes. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, there wasn't much. "I know most of these folks, and they just want to check on their things," said Kelly Besson, civil defense director for Grand Isle. "When they get on the island, they're going to see nothing." When Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast 50 miles to the east, its fierce winds drove 12 to 20 feet of water across Grand Isle, the only inhabited barrier island in Louisiana. Twelve sections of the causeway bridge connecting the island to the mainland were moved sideways 4 feet by the hurricane's force. More than 80 percent of the homes on the island were washed away, Mr. Besson said, many of them stripped to the foundations. The remaining homes all suffered significant damage. Grand Isle, known for its fishing and recreation, is home to about 1,500 year-round. Summer visitors swell the population to 20,000. By Sunday, as Katrina bore down on the coast, all but five people had evacuated the island. "I've lived here 30 years, and I never left the island for a hurricane before," Mr. Besson said. "But I left for this one." All five survived the storm and have been accounted for, Mr. Besson said. Mr. Besson and the mayor, David Camballe, were the last people to leave the island Sunday evening. Monday afternoon, they returned, having to walk across the damaged bridge. "The place is just devastated. That storm just tore us up," Mr. Besson said. "There is still 5 feet of water standing in parts of town. And so much of the really nice summer homes are just gone. It's going to take a while for us to rebuild. But we will. We're going to survive this." David Chaisson, waiting at the check point, said he didn't know what to expect. His wife and family left the island Saturday. He left Sunday evening. "They tell us everything's gone, that anything on the ground the water just took away," Mr. Chaisson said. "I want to see if I can salvage anything, if there's anything left."
I need to be more specific. I was speaking literally "the island" came through it well. It is not under water as reported, although I am sure most if not all of it was during and shortly after the storm. Obviously with the outer western portion of the eye wall crossing over/near the island, there is major damage to the buildings there.
Since the 18 century, Grand Isle has been inhabited. Its was known as a summer home to the wealthy of New Orleans that were fleeing from the disease that was rampant in the city during the hot months. It has weathered many storms, and if the Island itself came through this one, I wouldnt be suprised.
You say that but at the same time there were house that are as old as that and they are no longer standing. Hurricane after hurricane have passed that way and they stood firm, but no longer.
I have friends who are permanant residents of the island. They were told everything is gone. Any standing structure is severly damaged and not many structures are standing. I visit the island frequently and anyone who does can quickly tell you the area being shown as Grande Isle on the news is NOT Grande Isle. I have seen places labled Grande Isle that I know are as far north as Cutoff. I don't know what is true and what is not, but I know it is not good.
Here is a link to some pictures. I honestly can't recognize anything from these aerial photos. Maybe someone here can. The rest are > HERE <
------- I'm not sure what photos you are referring to, but the footage I saw (both arial and ground photos) were indeed Grand Isle. I have no doubt whatsoever.
Not to be picky... but.... Access forbidden! You don't have permission to access the requested directory. There is either no index document or the directory is read-protected. If you think this is a server error, please contact the webmaster. Error 403 www.grandislerealty.com Thu Sep 1 05:30:55 2005 Apache/2.0.50 (Debian GNU/Linux) mod_perl/1.99_14 Perl/v5.8.4 mod_ssl/2.0.50 OpenSSL/0.9.7d mod_auth_pgsql/2.0.1
