Bayou La Batre, Alabama - Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

On August 29, 2005, the area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, with a local storm surge of nearly 16-foot (5 m) and higher waves that engulfed Bayou La Batre and pushed over 23 shrimp boats and the cargo ship M/V Caribbean Clipper onto shore. The captain rode out Katrina on the 179-foot (55 m) cargo ship, owned by Caribbean Shipping Inc., and the ship was returned to sea six months later, using a large crane.

Students from the Alba Middle School documented the destruction through a series of photos that were exhibited at various venues in Alabama and the Chicago, Illinois region. Some of these were published in a book titled Eyes of the Storm: A Community Survives after Katrina (ISBN 978-0-9789362-0-4).

In October 2005, seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Bayou La Batre was adopted by the City of Santa Monica, California (see: "Santa Monica Pier") to assist in clean-up activities. The Santa Monica City Council approved loaning Bayou La Batre 18 vehicles, including six pickups, two trucks with large cranes, utility vehicles with smaller cranes, a dump truck, street sweepers, a riding lawnmower, and six chainsaws. The equipment was used to help remove debris and fishing boats from downtown; however, the larger shrimp boats that were washed into the surrounding woods by the flood waters still remain there today.