Frightening Early Image From Cameron, LA

[timNms]

This morning's Times Picayune posts a photo depicting the total devastation in Cameron Parish. I have uploaded a copy to my hurricane website to show here:



As with the photo I posted yesterday, this looks like it may be Holly Beach. The original photo from the Times Picayune just identified it as "Cameron Parish".

In any case, the damage is severe. I think it's kind of sad that the media is hyping how Rita was much less severe than originally forecast. What I think we have here is a Katrina mentality going on. If there had never been a Katrina, I think the media would be all over Rita, trumpeting how destructive the hurricane was. But, because Katrina's destruction was almost biblical in scope, almost anything else in comparison seems rather trivial.

It appears that Rita, when all the $$ are added up, may wind up being the 3rd costliest hurricane in US history.....certainly not a "trivial event". I guess things are all relative....

--Lou

Remarkable photo. It's sad how some areas are overlooked, although the destruction is total. Guess it all depends on where you live in regards of whether your area is mentioned by the national news media. It appears if you don't reside in a big metropolis, then you don't exist in their eyes.

[Derek Ortt]

it says a lot about what we have went through that we are happy that a marginal category 3 hurricane made landfall and only caused over 10 billion dollars in damage

4 weeks ago, this would have been inconceivable

[arlwx]

Current reports suggest that Cameron took the brunt of flooding, with a meter still in much of the town. Rt. 82 is a total mess, partly flooded in spots. There was also a lot of massive flooding in Port Arthur. Police were still trying to get into some of the coastal towns including Holly Beach. Damage west of the TX/LA border, and north of I-10, was said to be much less.