Posts Tagged katrina

Apologies for a post that is a bit off topic but it was something that I found very interesting and felt that this would be the best place for me to share it. I also hope that it may help some new folks to find the Old Man River Project site. It is also pertinent to the Mississippi River as the continued loss of her delta is making Southeast Louisiana more and more vulnerable to storms. If we do not restore the natural function of the Mississippi Delta as much as possible and assist the river with the rebuilding and restoration of those vital coastal wetlands many of Louisiana’s coastal communities, including the city of New Orleans, will be rendered uninhabitable in the very near future.

So, without further adieu: I was watching Mythbusters last night on the Discovery Channel and a movie trailer for “The Road” starring Viggo Mortensen came on and in it I saw a very familiar image. Two large “Pogie Boats” sitting in the middle of a highway. It is an image that I use in a presentation that I give about hurricane’s Katrina and Rita and so I was somewhat taken aback to see it in full motion in high definition!

Here is a capture from the movie trailer:

a still from the trailer for the motion picture "The Road"

And here is the photograph that I used in my presentation. It was taken by U.S. Government workers just after Katrina:

Daybrook menhaden boats sit on Hwy 23 in Empire

Here is another view taken by a NOAA employee:

Daybrook menhaden boats sit on Hwy 23 in Empire

These boats are called “Pogie Boats” because they are used to catch a small fish that are commonly called Pogies here in Louisiana; they are commonly known as menhaden elsewhere. They are owned by a company called Daybrook, formerly Daybrook Fisheries, which catches large volumes of menhaden and, as they say on their website, “produces and distributes menhaden fish meal and fish oil as an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, proteins and essential minerals for high quality feed formulations in Agriculture, Aquaculture and Petfood.” Ironically, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, the parent organization of Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, was forced to sue Daybrook Fisheries a number of years ago for violating the discharge permits for their wastewater discharge into the the Mississippi River.

Notice the elevated home with the siding ripped off, the leaning telephone pole and the pile of boats behind the two pogie boats, all can be seen in the trailer.

Daybrook menhaden boats sit on Hwy 23 in Empire

The boats are sitting on Highway 23 in Empire Louisiana which is way down the River in Plaquemines Parish. The skyline of New Orleans is not visible down there.

Daybrook menhaden boats sit on Hwy 23 in Empire

It took more than 1 million dollars just to get these two boats back in operation. The economic impact of one hurricane can be far greater than the costs to make great headway on coastal restoration.

The movie “The Road” is not about Hurricane Katrina. It appears to be some kind of post-apocalyptic thriller. I don’t know if it will be any good but it was pretty interesting to see this image from Katrina pop up in a major motion picture. I hope you enjoyed the post and if you are new to Old Man River Project then please check out OUR trailer in the upper right side of the website and follow along with the adventure!

Oh and you can see the full “The Road” trailer starring Viggo Mortensen here.

Bottom three photos are from: NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), Collection of Wayne and Nancy Weikel, FEMA Fisheries Coordinators