In South Louisiana, in August 2016 a rare, tragic rain storm lasted a full three days and dropped the equivalent of 7.1 trillion gallons of water or enough to fill Lake Pontchartrain about four times. Hurricane Katrina, by comparison, dumped about 2.3 trillion gallons of rainwater in the state (though more in other states). This horrific event left over 150,000 homes across South Louisiana submerged by flood waters over a 10 day period. The great flood was a 500-year event that left dozens of towns and cities in 21 parishes across south Louisiana under tens of feet of water. The floodwaters fell in the mid-central region of the state, then wound their way southward towards the Gulf of Mexico inundating every structure in its path as it overflowed banks and dozens of rivers and bayous that canvass the southern portion of the state. Citizens would find their yard dry one minute and minutes later, they would find themselves in need of urgent rescue and all of their possessions underwater. The Cajun Navy grew from a need to assist our neighbors and overwhelmed first responders during the great flood of 2016.

It was only a year later that Hurricane Harvey created a similar flooding emergency in Southeast Texas and Houston, leaving tens of thousands needing rescue, and over 140,000 homes badly damaged needing citizen support. The Cajun Navy, for the second time in a year, was called upon to assist overwhelmed systems in Texas. Similar to the Louisiana flood we performed thousands of citizen rescues and assisted dozens of homeowners with the cleanup.

That was many years ago, and the Cajun Navy has changed little. We are still finding ways to assist during and after disasters. To date, in mid-2022, we have assisted with rescue and recovery in over a dozen natural disasters.