BISCO organization brings hurricane stories home, literally

Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck, the local Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organization (BISCO) has been hosting recovery awareness parties in various homes in the Tri-parish area.

BISCO director Sharon Gauthe and staffer Patty Whitney are instrumental in the effort to educate locals on the impact of the storm by showing the video “Washing Away: Losing Louisiana.”

“The reason we show the washing away video is because Hurricane Rita impacted this area,” Whitney explained.

During the storms, Gauthe and Whitney volunteered their services at the Nicholls State University shelter. Since then, the two community advocates said they have been keeping their ears to the ground to learn how the region is recovering after the storms.

“People are still suffering,” Whitney said. “And Louisiana is still in a lot of danger from tropical storms, hurricanes and coastal erosion.”

Gauthe said the video presentation, which was initially broadcasted on Louisiana Public Broadcasting, is BISCO’s way of helping people to understand where Louisiana has been and what’s happening to the Gulf Coast area.

According to reports, television producer Christina Melton approached Louisiana Public Broadcasting about producing a science-based documentary that details the ongoing coastal erosion crisis along Louisiana’s coast.

As Melton explained in early 2005, the video would explore the impact of a storm on New Orleans, the oil and gas industry, America’s seafood harvest and the region’s environment and people.

But before filming began, hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped through the Gulf Coast.

Melton did return to the project. Her documentary tells of six Louisianans and how the storms affected the coastline, their land and their livelihoods.

“These people share their stories and their knowledge of the larger impacts of coastal land loss on the environment, wildlife, the economy, industry, culture and communities,” Gauthe said.

The lives of the interviewees in “Washing Away” are integrally tied to the land in some way, having built successful careers dependant in some way on Louisiana’s endangered coast.

And the video features two locals – Port Fourchon Director Ted Falgoust and Kerry St. Pè, a marine biologist and director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary.

To schedule a “viewing party,” contact Gauthe at (985) 446-5364.

Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organization representatives are pictured with U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal during a visit to Washington, D.C. The group went to the nation’s Capitol to discuss the needs of the Tri-parish community in rebuilding after the 2005 hurricane season. BISCO is gearing up for another trip to continue to hammer home the need for help. Pictured are Sharon and David Gauthe, Barbara Johnson, Patty Whitney, Jindal, Joyce Hadley, the Rev. Kirkland Aitkens and an unidenfied young man. * Photo courtesy of BISCO