With leery eye on Ike, Lafourche begins cleanup

“It’s a mess, isn’t it?” Gary Borne mused, glancing toward his son, Thomas, as they worked Friday outside their Golden Meadow home.

Thomas surveyed the damage and nodded.

After evacuating to Mississippi to avoid the ravages of Hurricane Gustav, the Borne’s returned to Golden Meadow to find a portion of their home destroyed.

This is not Gary Borne’s first hurricane, but it’s the first that packed a hard punch.

“Katrina was nothing compared to this,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with rebuilding half of my house. I’m just lucky we weren’t home when it hit.”

Luckily for the Bornes, the damage was mostly limited to a storage area. But unfortunately, Thomas’ room was also lost in the rubble.

“This was an old kitchen,” Gary said, pointing at the rubble. “I built a new one on the other side of the house and used this for storage. Everything was in here but my barbecue pit. I brought that with me.”

When asked about his room, Thomas just sighs and said, “It looks like I have a lot of work to do.”

The post-storm cleanup is a common struggle in the wake of last week’s hurricane. Like a number of others in the Tri-parishes, the Bornes feel lucky the outcome wasn’t worse.

Especially since fleeing to Mississippi didn’t mean the family was completely safe from Hurricane Gustav.

“The tornado sirens were going off and I looked up and saw one forming right above us,” Gary recalls. “It was something.”

Although Hurricane Gustav’s eye crossed Golden Meadow, Galliano and Cut Off, the damage is salvageable, officials agree.

Like the Borne residence, many homes and buildings bear the signs that Gustav’s Category 2 winds have blown through. Many roofs are damaged, abandoned buildings destroyed and power lines and trees are strewn about all along the Bayou Lafourche corridor.

Just up the road at Rouse’s in Cut Off, residents raced to the store to get essentials. Most residents in the area had their power restored.

Jan Hebert, a longtime Cut Off resident, returned after evacuating to find moderate damage to her home.

“I had a little roof damage and some trees,” she said. “Nothing that we can’t fix.”

In fact, Hebert said she has already started cleaning up her yard, picking up branches and shingles.

“For the area, this was by far one of the worst storms,” she said, comparing Gustav to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “We still got by without any significant damage.”

For Larry Crosby of Prairieville, the damage wasn’t as moderate, but it’s still manageable.

He, like many, received roof damage and was in Cut Off to get supplies.

Lights in Prairieville were still out Friday, leaving businesses closed, so he drove the extra distance to stock up on food.

Crosby said the recovery process has begun. He’s been putting in countless hours nailing tarps to his roof, picking up tree limbs and removing the pre-storm boards that saved his house from window damage.

“I was here for Andrew, Katrina and Rita,” Crosby said. “But I must admit, this is the worst I’ve ever had to deal with. The hardest hit areas didn’t match what Katrina did to New Orleans, but for Prairieville and the surrounding areas, Gustav was the worst.”

As lower Lafourche residents continue to pick up debris Gustav left behind and seek normalcy, they’re still keeping a close eye on the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Ike approaches.

Gary Borne is quick to offer advice to his neighbors should the storm approach: “Get the hell out of here. I know I am. I already lost part of my house for Gustav, who knows what another one will do?

Hebert and Crosby agree. Should Ike pay the region a visit, the storm won’t find either Lafourche resident at home.

“Until then, I’ll just take care of what I have here,” Gary Borne said. “I’m watching it though.”

Gary Borne and his son Thomas dig out a storage area at their Golden Meadow home. Hurricane Gustav’s Category 2 winds leveled half the Borne’s home and left many neighboring residences damaged. With Hurricane Ike churning toward Cuba, residents begin the task of repairing their homes and keeping a close eye on Ike’s path. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER