Communities on the Edge
Matt Santiago staff writer On average flooding causes 15.2 billion dollars in damage annually, but the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority says as land around levee systems erodes that yearly average could increase to 24.3 billion dollars. The CPRA says that increase could be “catastrophic” in other areas of the economy. Economic troubles caused by flooding are the result of increasingly strong hurricanes, which are strengthened by a shrinking coast with an ever decreasing buffer zone from water. And as the buffer zone decreases, water continues to move closer. “Deterioration of coastal marshes means these levees are increasingly exposed to open water,” according to the Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana report. “All infrastructure along the unleveed corridors is subject to sinking and exposure to waves, tides, and storm surges.” That destruction has caused insurance costs to increase across Louisiana’s coastal regions. Galiano resident Mary Gisclair saw her home owner’s policy double in price recently and flood insurance more than triple in the last seven years. “My home owners policy, which used to cost $2,000 is now $4,000,” she says. “And following [Hurricane] Ida, flood insurance went from $300 up to $1,000 now.” “My home owners policy, which used to cost $2,000 is now $4,000.” Mary Gisclair A closer look Communities on the Edge Mark Bourgeois staff https://youtu.be/2Ifq1euZW2whttps://youtu.be/hLM3qRO8sq8https://youtu.be/WkxmsYF-lCk
The Business of Land Loss
Brogan Burns features editor On average flooding causes 15.2 billion dollars in damage annually, but the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority says as land around levee systems erodes that yearly average could increase to 24.3 billion dollars. The CPRA says that increase could be “catastrophic” in other areas of the economy. Economic troubles caused by flooding are the result of increasingly strong hurricanes, which are strengthened by a shrinking coast with an ever decreasing buffer zone from water. And as the buffer zone decreases, water continues to move closer. “Deterioration of coastal marshes means these levees are increasingly exposed to open water,” according to the Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana report. “All infrastructure along the unleveed corridors is subject to sinking and exposure to waves, tides, and storm surges.” That destruction has caused insurance costs to increase across Louisiana’s coastal regions. Galiano resident Mary Gisclair saw her home owner’s policy double in price recently and flood insurance more than triple in the last seven years. “My home owners policy, which used to cost $2,000 is now $4,000,” she says. “And following [Hurricane] Ida, flood insurance went from $300 up to $1,000 now.” “My home owners policy, which used to cost $2,000 is now $4,000.” Mary Gisclair A rise in prices can be attributed to the cost of rebuilding, which has influenced the price of claims for insurance companies. “The cost to rebuild or repair a home or business has gone up significantly, and this is a factor used to determine premiums,” according to America’s Flood. “That price increase translates into an increase in the cost of claims for flood insurance companies, forcing them to increase premiums further.” Gisclair says it is hurting people who struggle to keep up with rising costs. “I drive through and there are still houses with tarps on them [from Ida] because either they didn’t receive their claim or haven’t found contractors,” Gisclair says. Following the hurricane, watching homes and buildings left damaged, she says she realized how hard the effects of insurance increases were on others. “It’s a shame because a lot of people can’t afford to pay an extra $2,000 every year.” Businesses Depend on Coastal Land Troy Daigle video editor https://youtu.be/3p8seLONawAhttps://youtu.be/i_zk72Lu_Kk
Louisiana’s Land Loss Crisis
Brogan Burns features editor Louisiana is home to the fastest-disappearing land mass in the US, stretching from Plaquemines and Lafourche parishes as far north as Point Coupee and home to over 600,000 people. The Louisiana coast has been experiencing this crisis for the better part of the last century and likely longer than that. Between 1932 and 2016, Louisiana lost 2,006 square miles of its coast, an area equivalent to more than 10 times the size of New Orleans, according to a 2016 study produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. “A whole lot can be lost without it being noticed; that way, people don’t get alarmed,” says Gary LaFleur, a biology professor at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. “A whole lot can be lost without it being noticed; that way, people don’t get alarmed.” Gary LaFleur An Invisible Crisis Despite the problem beginning decades ago, it was not until 2007, two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Southeast Louisiana, that the state began to fund a master plan by the Coastal Protection and Restoration, which says the plan has an “emphasis on improving protection from storm surge-based flooding and creating a sustainable ecosystem.” The time elapsed from the start of the crisis to the funding of a state restoration plan is due to Louisiana’s unique geography. Unlike most of the world, Louisiana’s coast is made up of soft marshland, which struggles to hold up the weight of a person, making permanent settlement impossible. Lack of use of the coastal land has left its disappearance unnoticed, allowing coastal erosion to fester quietly, leaving a fast-moving crisis, LaFleur says. Causes Geography left the extent of the crisis relatively unnoticed, but a range of factors, both natural and mostly man-made, are to blame for the large losses of land. Sediment displacement and subsidence are the surface-level reasons for the crisis, but both causes find their roots in man-made changes to the land and waterways, known as hydrological modifications. The most used form of these modifications is levees. “Human hydrologic modifications have led to this accelerated subsidence, which is like sinking,” LaFleur says. French settlers learned early in the 1700s that land along the Mississippi River is flood-prone, building the first levees in New Orleans in 1719, only two years after founding the city. Originally, these levees were used to protect life and property, but over time, they led to sediment displacement. Natural flooding of the Mississippi River deposited sediment in the flooded areas, replenishing and building land; however, with levees restricting its natural flow, sediment is going out of the delta and into the Gulf of Mexico. Without the sediment being naturally deposited, it has allowed erosion and land degradation, which has forced the land to subside. Although human-made causes have accelerated the land-loss crisis, natural and environmental Factors can not be ignored. Hurricanes and sea level rise have played a constant role in the crisis. Hurricanes are large, catastrophic events that have the power to displace tremendous amounts of land and also destroy entire barrier islands, says LaFleur. Sea level rise accelerates the crisis at a much slower, but more constant rate. Water rise meets subsidence, sinking the land much quicker than subsidence alone. Environmental stressors such as the introduction of the invasive nutria rat and the pervasiveness of offshore oil drilling are smaller, yet key factors. Politics Coastal scientists and activists have worked for years pitching and creating restoration projects. Still, in recent months, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry effectively killed two of these projects, according to Restore the Mississippi River Delta. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion and Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion projects had their permits suspended this year, halting years of progress. Tyler Duplantis, a Houma resident and member of the United Houma Nation, believes that with the coast and other environmental issues becoming politicized in recent years, it is important to ignore the politics and come together to protect the coast and its people. “We need to educate people on the matter and not look at it as political, but instead as keeping our Bayou community strong,” Duplantis says. “I like to think in Louisiana, we are united as one family, and if one of our family members has to relocate because of land loss, we have to take care of them by realizing the problem and fixing it.” “I like to think in Louisiana, we are united as one family, and if one of our family members has to relocate because of land loss, we have to take care of them by realizing the problem and fixing it.” Tyler Duplantis More than Land As land recedes from the coast, water is allowed to move further inland, resulting in changes to the lives and cultures of those affected. Flooding became, at times, a daily challenge for Former Grand Isle resident Rhiannon Callais, who says she would often wade through water when a not-so-unusual high tide flooded parts of the island. This flooding could often force children to miss school, as buses were unable to reach students. Point aux Chenne in Terrebonne Parish is a prime example of the effect land loss has had on people. The Island, which was home to members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha tribe, has lost 98% of its land, forcing residents out for safety. In 2018, the US government recognized this issue and offered assistance in relocating from their island, making them the first climate refugees. Although they received land close to nearby Houma to protect life, their way of life is beginning to change as many are forced to get jobs that no longer use water, losing touch with their old way of life and each other as they move. Other area tribes, like the United Houma Nations, have struggled with the movement of their people and the fight to retain their culture. “A lot of our elders had to move away from where they grew up along the Bayou,” Duplantis says. “When you have to relocate to a place that you’re unfamiliar with, you lose
The North African Campaign
kade bergeron features editor Prisoners of war engaged in a variety of recreational and creative activities during their time in captivity. From playing soccer and card games to painting and woodworking, these activities offered the prisoners both physical and mental respite. For most of the day, the prisoners of war worked in fields and were occasionally allowed to enjoy recreational activities. Everet Hallback, whose father worked as a mechanic while the POW camps were in South Louisiana, says the prisoners enjoyed playing with the stray dogs while waiting for transportation back to the camps. And some liked to play various card games once they got back to the camps. Glenn Falgoust, a journalist who researched the Donaldsonville POW camps, says, “They played soccer, had a little sports field, and a dance hall.” “They played soccer, had a little sports field, and a dance hall.” Glenn falgoust In addition, some prisoners painted. Linda Theriot, an executive at The Houma Regional Military Museum, says a Houma camp prisoner, Otto Webber, painted multiple paintings, including a self portrait with his son. Some prisoners were interested in woodworking and masonry. “Sometimes there were training walls, like along a ditch or steps up to a house or up a hill,” says Brian Davis, executive director for the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, about the Ruston camp. “Some of them were laid out by prisoners who would do work details out in the community at the time as well.” However, not all activities were physical like playing sports. Some of the activities were there to help the prisoners spiritually or mentally. A few camps allowed Catholic Mass for prisoners. In addition, Theriot says some prisoners may have been taught by teachers employed by their employer’s families — like the Matherne family who employed POWs from one of the Houma camps. The Battle in North Africa Most of the POWs held in Louisiana were captured in North Africa, more than 3,000 miles from their homes in Germany and more than 7,000 miles from Louisiana. Maps of the Axis advances in North Africa 1941. Photo Credit: The United States Military Academy Department of History Allied troops marching through Tunis following Allied success against Axis forces in the African Campaign. Tunis, Tunisia, May 20, 1943. Photo Credit: Library of Congress Panzer tanks of Erwin Rommel_s Africa Corps during an advance against British armed forces. Libya, 1941-1942. Photo Credit: National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD A British infantryman capturing a German tank crewman at El Alamein, 1942. Photo Credit: National Army Museum British troops help a wounded German prisoner, 1942. Photo Credit: National Army Museum British troops arrive in Tunis, May 1943, where the German P.O.W.s fought and were captured. Photo Credit: National Army Museum German prisoners of war under guard by a signpost to El Alamein, 1942. Photo Credit: National Army Museum Infantry moving up during 1st Army’s attack on Longstop Hill, Tunisia, April 1943. Photo Credit: National Army Museum New Zealander soldiers capturing Germans, December 3, 1941. Photo-Credit: Imperial War Museums
Life in Germany
Most of the POWs held in Louisiana came from Germany, more than 5,000 miles away from Louisiana. Bastei Bridge (Basteibrucke) with Lilienstein Mountain on background – Bastei, Saxony, Germany City hall of Wernigerode, Germany. Present-day Saxony, Germany, where many-German P.O.W.s originated. Photo Credit: Cheryl Call Dresden Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Hofkirche and Dresden Castle Hausmannsturm on Theaterplatz. Langelsheim, Niedersachsen, Germany. Photo Credit: Wolfgang Weiser Lauenburg-Elbe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Photo Credit: Wolfgang Weiser Small village and Elbe river band in front of Bastei sandstone rocks in Saxony, Germany. kade bergeron features editor Prisoners of war engaged in a variety of recreational and creative activities during their time in captivity. From playing soccer and card games to painting and woodworking, these activities offered the prisoners both physical and mental respite. For most of the day, the prisoners of war worked in fields and were occasionally allowed to enjoy recreational activities. Everet Hallback, whose father worked as a mechanic while the POW camps were in South Louisiana, says the prisoners enjoyed playing with the stray dogs while waiting for transportation back to the camps. And some liked to play various card games once they got back to the camps. Glenn Falgoust, a journalist who researched the Donaldsonville POW camps, says, “They played soccer, had a little sports field, and a dance hall.” “They played soccer, had a little sports field, and a dance hall.” Glenn falgoust In addition, some prisoners painted. Linda Theriot, an executive at The Houma Regional Military Museum, says a Houma camp prisoner, Otto Webber, painted multiple paintings, including a self portrait with his son. Some prisoners were interested in woodworking and masonry. “Sometimes there were training walls, like along a ditch or steps up to a house or up a hill,” says Brian Davis, executive director for the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, about the Ruston camp. “Some of them were laid out by prisoners who would do work details out in the community at the time as well.” However, not all activities were physical like playing sports. Some of the activities were there to help the prisoners spiritually or mentally. A few camps allowed Catholic Mass for prisoners. In addition, Theriot says some prisoners may have been taught by teachers employed by their employer’s families — like the Matherne family who employed POWs from one of the Houma camps. Most of the POWs held in Louisiana came from Germany, more than 5,000 miles away from Louisiana. Bastei Bridge (Basteibrucke) with Lilienstein Mountain on background – Bastei, Saxony, Germany City hall of Wernigerode, Germany. Present-day Saxony, Germany, where many-German P.O.W.s originated. Photo Credit: Cheryl Call Dresden Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Hofkirche and Dresden Castle Hausmannsturm on Theaterplatz. Langelsheim, Niedersachsen, Germany. Photo Credit: Wolfgang Weiser Lauenburg-Elbe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Photo Credit: Wolfgang Weiser Small village and Elbe river band in front of Bastei sandstone rocks in Saxony, Germany.
The Donaldsonville Camp: Escape Attempts
jacob levron staff Glenn Falgoust lives in Napoleonville, Louisiana, and has researched the Donaldsonville German POW camp extensively. Stan Duvall
Thibodaux Camp: What’s Left
Jacob Levron staff
Terrorism & Meeting a Former POW
Jacob Levron staff Thibodaux native Steve Willett was on a European vacation with his family in 1985 when their plane was hijacked. Willett’s hostage story takes him to a hospital in Germany where he met a former German POW who had been at the Thibodaux POW camp. Steve Willett’s Journal The hostage story Click to see full image and read page
Camp Ghost Stories
jalaysia sanders podcast editor April Cortez April Cortez as a child April Cortez
POWs in the Media
German POWs during World War II had a lasting impact on Louisiana and the United States. These stories live on through books, films and plays. Books about Louisiana Fish Out of Water A book about Nazi submariners as prisoners in North Louisiana during World War II. WWII in the Gulf of Mexico C.J. Christ’s research into the German U-boat menace in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. German POWS in Books The Barbed-Wire College: Reeducating German POWs in the United States During World War II Ron Robin The Faustball Tunnel: German POWs in America and Their Great Escape John Hammond Moore The Fifteen: Murder, Retribution, and the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWs in America William Geroux German POWs, Der Ruf, and the Genesis of Group 47: The Political Journey of Alfred Andersch and Hans Werner Richter Aaron D. Horton Guests Behind the Barbed Wire Ruth Beaumont Cook My Journey of Captivity: The Story of a German POW Helga McKee Nazi POWs in the Tar Heel State Robert D. Billinger Jr. Nazi Prisoners of War in America Arnold Krammer Secrets of a German POW: The Capture and Interrogation of Hauptmann Herbert Clef Brian Brinkworth War, Spies & Bobby Sox (The Saga Series) Libby Fischer Hellmann German POWS in Film Fort McCoy 2011 Film: A drama based on a true story when the Stirn family lived next to a Nazi POW camp in Wisconsin during W.W.II. Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis 2021 Animated Short: WWII vets reveal a secret US military camp near Washington where Jewish soldiers hosted and interrogated Nazi POWs. The Front 2018 Film: By the end of World War II, Frank Aldridge, a war correspondent sent by the United Nations, interviews German prisoners in an allied camp. Splinters of a Nation 2016 Documentary: The story of German POWs Utah. Decision Before Dawn 1951 Film: As the US Army approaches Nazi Germany, they recruit German prisoners of war to spy behind German lines. The Enemy in Our Midst 2004 Documentary: Nazi Prisoner of War Camps in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. History Detectives 2005 Season 3, Episode 2: Investigates a German POW camp in Texas. Back in Time: Oklahoma’s Nazi Prisoners 2025 Season 14, Episode 3: During World War II, 22,000 captured German soldiers were held captive in Oklahoma. Beets Play: Farmers using German POW to help grow crops in Colorado. Original premiere in 2009 Learn More