God Floods Louisiana with Grace

Life on the Louisiana bayous is quite serene. Summers are hot and long, but tranquil and beautiful. A bayou is a slow moving body of water. There are many bayous in southern Louisiana. The water is a murky brown color and does not seem to be moving at all. Sitting beside a bayou, one cannot help but feel relaxed as time seems to slow down to the speed of the lazy waters gently rolling into the muddy bank. There are no worries, no traffic, no hustle and bustle of this modern world on the banks of a bayou.

I was born and raised in southern Louisiana near the Bayou Teche. My ancestors settled along the bayou after being exiled from their native lands in Acadia, (Nova Scotia today), in the 1700’s due to their Catholic faith. This area of Louisiana, known as “Acadiana”, is still rich with the first Acadian’s culture and faith. Drive along neighborhoods and you will see statues outside homes of Jesus and Mary. Stop by a local restaurant, and you might catch a “Cajun” band and folks dancing to a Cajun French tune. There are many Catholic Churches in the neighborhoods in front of which drivers will pause and make The Sign of the Cross while in route. The people are diverse and unique, compassionate and loyal to their family, friends and God.

Growing up in this area, I have witnessed many hurricanes. Water and wind can be a deadly combination. People here are accustomed to preparing for such storms. There are supplies that are bought, homes that are boarded up and sometimes necessary evacuations prior to a storm landing. But on the morning of August 12, 2016, no one in southern Louisiana was prepared for the onslaught of rain by an unnamed storm that was to continue for more than 30 hours.

Rain was in the forecast. It would be a rainy two days, Friday and Saturday, possibly as much as ten inches. I was actually looking forward to a couple of cloudy and rainy days. The summer had been brutal with temperatures in the upper nineties and high humidity. As I lay in bed in the early morning hours that Friday, I heard the thunder and saw flashes of lightening through my bedroom blinds. It was still dark outside and had been raining for some time. My husband kissed me good-bye and told me the roads were starting to flood. Once he left I lay in bed waiting for the sound of the pounding rain to lessen….it did not. The storm seemed to grow in fury as my cell phone screeched out an alarm for an Emergency Flood Warning.

Turning on the television, I learned that much of southern Louisiana was flooding and this storm was not moving away. Schools were canceled and residents were warned to avoid driving into flooded areas. Much of that morning the rain pelleted and the sky thundered. The water in the street rose and began to climb into my yard. My garage was closest to the street. In an effort to see how close the water was to my garage, I opened the garage door. At that same moment, a truck drove by and caused waves to travel towards my house. A two- foot wave gushed into my garage and I quickly closed the garage door. This was a serious matter. My home was being threatened by a force over which I had no control. My fate was in God’s hands.

Growing up Catholic in Cajun country meant that traditions were passed down from generation to generation. Saying the rosary is a normal part of life here. Calling upon our mother Mary, the Saints and the angels for their intercession is instilled in us from the time we are very young. On Friday, August 12, 2016, I utilized every God-given resource that I knew. I prayed the Rosary. I prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I appealed to God to send His angels to protect my home and the homes of my family. I called upon the Saints to pray for all of us. Friday afternoon it was still raining, but had slowed down to allow for some drainage. My husband and I nervously watched the evening news that day and realized this was far from over.

The rain did not stop all Friday night. Saturday morning, I awoke to another ferocious storm. Water again was rising. I began hearing about neighborhoods being evacuated and residents having to be rescued by boat. This was a storm of epic proportion which called for epic praying! Once again, I spent the day praying the rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. God and His saints were hearing from me regularly. I kept the angels busy working to protect my family, especially my daughter and grandchildren and my parents, both who were surrounded by water, stranded in their homes with water knocking at the door.

Saturday afternoon it was still raining, but had slowed to a light rain. There was nowhere for the water to go. The serene bayous, rivers and lakes were filled to capacity and begin to swell out onto roads and into homes. The videos on facebook and local news stations were heartbreaking. My husband tried to get to our daughter to get her and the grandkids over to our home, but the water surrounding her neighborhood was too high. Talking to my daughter on the phone, I could tell she was stressed to the limit; but the kids were scared and crying and she had to be strong for their sake. I told her not to worry, the rain had slowed and the water would drain, but we both knew that the forecasters were calling for a heavy storm that night and we both were wondering if we would be the next evacuees.

It was a long, sleepless night. The sound of steady rain after more than 24 hours can drive a person mad! It was more than the rain, it was the thunder, the emergency alert alarms, and the sound of my dog, Oscar, whimpering and sighing that kept me awake and praying that night. I could not help but think of Noah and how he and his family must have felt being on that ark for 40 days and nights without the sun; only rain and water as far as the eye could see. Just like Noah, I had to let go of my fears and trust in God. I had to submit to His Will and go forward whatever the circumstances whatever the outcome. With this realization came peace and came sleep.

Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the rains stopped. My home and all of my family’s homes were spared. My community was devastated. Over 30 inches of rain in over 30 hours wreaked havoc on thousands. Homes, neighborhoods, schools, businesses and farmlands were flooded all throughout south Louisiana. The devastation was still going on as many rivers and bayous were rising and back-flooding into still more homes and neighborhoods.

Rescues were happening everywhere and by everyone. Ordinary citizens were using personal vehicles and boats to get to flooded victims and those that were stranded. We were able to get my daughter and two grandkids out that Sunday. Their home did not flood, but they were surrounded by high water on all sides. It seemed as though their neighborhood had some kind of invisible levee around each house, keeping the waters out. I secretly envisioned hundreds of angels with wings outstretched, towering about each home, keeping the floods water at bay. We had so much to be thankful for.

In the days that followed the floods, I was extremely busy with insurance inspections at flooded homes. I met with dozens of families while they were gutting the interiors of their homes and had piled up a lifetime worth of ruined possessions in a garbage pile at the road. There were tears and hugs. Each one had a story to share. Some had taken photos of the water as it ravaged their homes, now left muddied and unrecognizable. I told each of them I had only my prayers to offer. This always brought a smile to their faces. Most told me that God had blessed them with their life and they would rebuild and they would be home again. Most told me they were so very thankful!

Think about it, 40,000 homes have been lost, over a dozen lives lost and 7 trillion gallons of rain fell in a week in this one small state. But this is Louisiana – where neighbor helps neighbor, there is faith beyond all hope, and there is a resilience to maintain a way of life and culture that is unique to this nation and to this world. We pray and we sacrifice and we put our faith in God. This secular nation and world pretend we are ignorant and disposable. But as the nation and world strive to find happiness with material goods and man’s self-importance, we here in Louisiana have found joy in striving for eternal happiness with our Lord by the humbling and giving of ourselves.

The bayous are once again quiet and lazy. Families are cleaning up homes and yards with the help of friends and sometimes strangers. Restaurants are donating plate lunches for residents of flooded neighborhoods. Churches are stockpiled with donations of clothing, food and toiletries. Displaced families are staying with family and friends. God’s Grace is in abundance here. Life is good and we are blessed.

“They shall come and see My Glory” says the Lord.