By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor LAKE CHARLES – Entire towns were wiped away. Numerous fishing villages were smashed beyond recognition. Roads were impassable. Livestock by the hundreds were left stranded. Cars and trucks floated down flooded streets and the only means of getting around was by boat. In an area known for its fabulous seafood industry and recreational fishing, the stench of dead shrimp and fish hung in the air. On Sept. 24, Hurricane Rita, the fourth most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, slammed into land between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, as a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mile-per-hour winds and a 17- to 20-foot storm surge that sent saltwater as far as 10 miles inland. Yet Rita is viewed as “the Forgotten Storm” because the nation’s attention, then and now, was on Katrina, which made landfall four weeks ahead on Rita on Aug. 29. For example, during the aftermath of Katrina, two thousand newspapers wrote more than a half of a million stories about the storm for more than two years. Rita, on the other hand, garnered national headlines for only about three days. But Rita was … [Read more...]

  By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA – She’s known as the Forgotten Storm. But for those residents of southwest Louisiana who survived Hurricane Rita, the storm will always be a memory that will live on for years to come. The hurricane made landfall at around 7:40 am between Johnson Bayou and Sabine Pass on Sept. 24, less than a month after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the southeastern part of Louisiana. The storm reached land, it weakened, but not before dumping heavy rainfall on a widespread area of the state. More than 1 million people were without power at one time during the storm, which traveled up the central part of the state before leaving behind homes, communities, businesses and lives in need of repair. Still, Louisiana Baptists are thankful for the light God provided through the storm and aftermath by the ministry of disaster relief teams and others who came to their aid. “When we look at the hurricane, what we saw was lots of physical damage to properties and in the middle of that churches responded like we do with disasters,” said Bruce Baker, director of missions for the Carey Baptist Association of churches in Southwest Louisiana. “We had churches from … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer DRY CREEK – When he was first making the trip to Dry Creek Baptist Camp days after riding out Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Omar Montalvo thought his purpose was only to escape the aftermath of the storm. What he found in the end was a saving relationship in Christ for his mother and sister and a place he now considers a second home. “To me, Dry Creek is a very special place,” he said. “Every time I go there I feel joy just to know that my mom and sister received Christ there. When I go there and I see (camp director) Todd Burnaman I always tell him this is home for me because they also help us during the days we stayed there.” Four months before Katrina made landfall, Montalvo was battling depression and thinking of suicide when he found Christ at Horeb Baptist Church in Gretna. Katrina severely damaged his family’s home, leaving them with only a 100 dollar bill and little means of finding food. Eight days later, Montalvo reached his music minister at Horeb, who informed him others from the church were staying at Dry Creek. Miraculously, someone from the congregation drove to New Orleans and picked up Montalvo, his mother and sister to take them to Dry Creek. The … [Read more...]

  By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer VERMILION PARISH – The day following the landfall of Hurricane Rita, a bedridden Pres Riley fielded a call from a church member asking a common question of many affected by the historic storm. “The water’s over my doorstep. What should I do?” Riley, in the hospital after receiving several brown recluse spider bites, responded with advice to get out of her home and seek shelter at First Baptist Church in Abbeville where he served as pastor. For a couple of weeks, Riley ministered from his hospital room to many others affected by the storm. While he was keeping in touch with his church members, those in the community and pastors offering prayers and support from throughout the US, First Abbeville was ministering by opening up its family life center to groups from all denominational lines which came to minister in a variety of ways to the community. The only states that did not send a team to stay at the church were Alaska and Maine. With the exception of one week, the church’s family life center hosted groups for the next two years. The church itself suffered roof damage but the groups coming in helped repair the damages. Throughout this time, the congregation … [Read more...]

  By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor WESTLAKE – When asked about Hurricane Rita, the floodgates of memories burst open for 71-year-old Joanna Robinson of Westlake. Ten years ago, she and her husband Jack, members of Bellview Baptist Church in Westlake, spent 2 ½ weeks feeding, helping and ministering to Southern Baptist disaster relief workers, members of the Coast Guard and people working at the nearby water plant. “It sometimes seems like it was just yesterday,” recalls Robinson, who had a kidney transplant six years earlier. “It was a very taxing time but a very meaningful time because God worked through us for His glory.” Jack Robinson, who passed away almost three years ago, was a member of the Carey Association disaster relief chainsaw crew. He had been home only two days after a strenuous stint of disaster relief work in the Covington area when he and Joanna were forced to evacuate as Rita approached southwest Louisiana. Climbing into their 38-foot-motor home, the couple traveled 235 miles west to College Station, Texas where they rode out the storm but were back in Westlake at 6 Saturday evening to survey the damage Rita had left in her wake. The storm had laid waste to their town. They, like … [Read more...]