After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged much of the Louisiana coastline, the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, was opened as a temporary emergency shelter for a few hundred refugees. However, newly homeless men, women, and children continued to arrive each day in need of food, clothing, and medical attention. This is the struggle of the volunteers and workers at the Cajundome who cared for more than 18,000 evacuees in the devastating aftermath of the hurricanes.
Fifty-Eight Days in the Cajundome Shelter
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
The Cajundome, a sports and entertainment arena in Lafayette, 140 miles from New Orleans, served for 58 days as a megashelter for 18,000 Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita evacuees. Dobie, an English professor at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, offers an intimate look at the evacuees and at the staff of the Cajundome, American Red Cross, FEMA, and local churches and organizations, including “Bubba crews” of locals providing food as they collectively coped with the aftermath of two hurricanes. Dobie recounts stories of the “noble and the base” in human reactions to hardship and struggle, as dome staff and relief organizations strove to provide basics of cots and medical care, and distraction for the children. Dobie highlights impromptu family formations as she examines the factors that cause some people to take charge and lead in desperate times and others to sink to predation. Dobie also explores the social dynamics of a mixture of mostly urban black poor from New Orleans and mostly white rural poor from southwestern Louisiana. --Vanessa Bush
From the Back Cover
In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, thousands of men, women, and children were left homeless by the floods that washed away much of southeast Louisiana. In response, the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana, was opened as an emergency shelter for the evacuees. As men and women of all races and walks of life came to the Cajundome for help, the arena's operations director Phil Ashurst and countless others hurried to provide food and medical care to the exhausted survivors. This was the crisis that brought out the best and worst of the human soul. Donald Williams from Lake Charles became a leader of a bus of handicapped and elderly as he guided them to safety. Police officer Guy LeBreton conquered riots and robberies, and he learned to appreciate the little things that matter the most, like electricity and running water. Author Ann Brewster Dobie includes her own firsthand experiences in the aftermath of the storms that changed a city, a state, and a world. Filled with hope, selflessness, and human triumph, these are the stories of the Cajundome's staff and evacuees. This is a heart-wrenching and unforgettable account of the aftermaths of Katrina and Rita and fifty-eight days of suffering, survival, and the search for hope in Lafayette's Cajundome.
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Format:Paperback
While world-wide attention was given to the many Katrina horror stories that took place in the Superdome and Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, little notice was taken of a very different story that occurred in the Cajundome of Lafayette, also filled with a multitude the storm displaced.
The Cajundome, in fact, had to cope with a double whammy when days after Katrina struck, Hurricane Rita pummeled the western Louisiana coast sending yet more refugees to the facility.
The staff of the Cajundome and volunteers, many of them descendants of the refugees of the Acadian Diaspora of 1755, on the whole welcomed the 21st century refugees with empathy, kindness, efficiency, and ingenuity. This is the story that Ann B. Dobie tells in her lucid, well-written, and moving chronicle of the 58 days in 2005 during which the Cajundome was used as a shelter.
There are villains also in this story, but the overwhelming emphasis of the book is on the success of the effort to provide shelter and comfort to those made homeless by the two disasters, when the Cajundome staff and the many volunteers treated those fleeing the storms more like guests than intruders.
There is much to be learned from this book. It should be required reading for all those involved in disaster planning. The book also amply illustrates the qualities of the people of Acadian Louisiana who have long made it a good and human place to live. I recommend this book very highly.
The Cajundome, in fact, had to cope with a double whammy when days after Katrina struck, Hurricane Rita pummeled the western Louisiana coast sending yet more refugees to the facility.
The staff of the Cajundome and volunteers, many of them descendants of the refugees of the Acadian Diaspora of 1755, on the whole welcomed the 21st century refugees with empathy, kindness, efficiency, and ingenuity. This is the story that Ann B. Dobie tells in her lucid, well-written, and moving chronicle of the 58 days in 2005 during which the Cajundome was used as a shelter.
There are villains also in this story, but the overwhelming emphasis of the book is on the success of the effort to provide shelter and comfort to those made homeless by the two disasters, when the Cajundome staff and the many volunteers treated those fleeing the storms more like guests than intruders.
There is much to be learned from this book. It should be required reading for all those involved in disaster planning. The book also amply illustrates the qualities of the people of Acadian Louisiana who have long made it a good and human place to live. I recommend this book very highly.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Excellent review - I was at the Cajundome as a volunteer, and it was truly amazing to see how this small city was run so smoothly. It was really interesting to read some of the behind-the-scenes information, the results of which were part of my experience. I remember the Red Cross people pretty much stayed in their air conditioned quarters, staying cool. They would come out occasionally, clean and fresh, with their clipboards, to the outside area where we volunteers were working tirelessly sorting contributions in the searing heat, and say "good job!" and go back into their isolated area. How patronizing! I worked on the meal service, too, sometimes - it was truly amazing how that amount of people could be fed GOOD FOOD, so quickly and courteously! Lafayette truly rose to the occasion without red tape or fuss. Volunteers came from all over the country, at their own expense and without being asked. Once there, it was up to everyone to make up his or her own job and get things done. It was an incredible experience and I thought this book gave a really nice picture of it, at least from one who was there.
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