Dodging a Bullet: Louisianans Worry Another Storm Like Katrina Would Doom Them
July 18, 2019
NEW ORLEANS — In his own words, shrimp runs through the veins of Charles Robin III, 59, a seventh-generation fisherman on the Louisiana bayou and a familiar face in the St. Bernard Parish, 45 kilometers (28 miles) from New Orleans.
Two days after Hurricane Barry spared much of southern Louisiana from major flooding this past week, it was back to business for Robin and his crew. It's "the life we chose," he says reassuringly, standing next to his granddaughter off the side of his boat.
Had it not been for the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — a storm that left him with "three T-shirts, two pairs of drawers, two pairs of shorts" and his boat — he might be close to retiring. Instead, he plans to work another 20 years beside his son, who also works in the business.
The distant future, however, is less certain. Robin can't guarantee that his grandkids will carry on the mantle of the business for a ninth generation. It's long been tough to make a living. Rising tides and worsening weather have made it tougher.
"We're sinking and we're losing land everyday," Lynette Gonzales, who runs Net's Rock-N-Dock shrimp unloading dock, told VOA.
