Louisiana Marks Rita Anniversary

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Hundreds gathered Sunday for a church service to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Rita, after a year that Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco called “the longest year of our lives.”

“Where there was devastation, there is reconstruction. There is rebirthing,” pastor Jerry Snider of Lake Charles’ Christian World Church said.

The nondenominational service, featuring scriptural readings and spirited singing, was held in this city’s civic center. The facility had served as a staging point for aid workers after Rita hit on Sept. 24, 2005, less than one month after Hurricane Katrina had devastated the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

Blanco called the storms an “unimaginable double punch.”

The Category 3 Rita struck along the Texas-Louisiana border, killing at least seven people in the two states. More than 100 died in the pre-storm evacuation of Houston, in accidents and exposure deaths.

Lake Charles, a city of about 70,000, suffered wind and flood damage, but its infrastructure has largely recovered. Farther south, the small coastal towns of Creole, Johnson Bayou, Holly Beach and Cameron remain in splinters as residents rebuild.

Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach praised the recovery efforts but said all Louisiana faced a long road back. “Future generations will judge us by how we responded in the face of adversity,” Roach said.