Pecan Island resident living stranded on his flooded street
PECAN ISLAND, La (KLFY) — The receding storm surge of Hurricane Laura is allowing more people to return to their homes.
Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish became accessible by the highway Friday, but many parts of the community are still underwater, including Front Ridge Road.
That’s where we found Joel Veazey, the only person on his street who is staying at his home after Hurricane Laura. He told News 10, he’s waiting for the power to come back on and the water to run before his wife comes to join him.”
Traveling in by airboat, Veazey was almost as surprised to see me than I was to see him. Without cell service, he’s literally and figuratively on an island.
“Here it’s receded probably five inches since I got here at 9:30 A.M. or 10’o’clock,” Veazey said from his flooded yard.
With no functioning boat, he’ll be walking through waist-deep water to carry 10 gallons of gas to his generator every day.
“My main concern was the deep freezers,” Veazey admitted. “If we lose the food that we have, I’m not expecting anyone else to replace it.”
The only other people on Front Ridge Road Friday were cell tower surveyors like Captian Dave Markett who works for Cat 5 resources.
“This particular part of Louisiana took a heavy lick, and the camps that we had to pass to get to the cell tower, everyone told a story,” Markett said from atop his airboat.
Veazey’s story after Hurricane Laura is better than he expected, saying the water and damage is incomparable to Rita.
“It’s like swimming with sharks or swimming in the pool,” explained Veazey. “Rita would have killed you if you’d have been here.”
When asked why live so close to hurricane danger, the answer was easy. “This is where I live. Some people don’t understand what it means to have roots. I do, and they’re deep within this property,” Veazey stated.
As he explained it’s in his blood, seven generations deep, so although he’ll evacuate, he’ll always come back to Pecan Island.
In his words, “I can’t say I would never live somewhere because I’ve already got a burial plot on the other side of the highway by the catholic church, and that’s where I’ll move when I leave here.”