Andale Thibodeaux and his wife, Mary, were
sharecroppers. They lived west of Rayne, La. and just south
of La. Hwy 90. They had 11 children, all but 3 lived with
them; the others were married and on
there
own.
The evening of Tuesday, August 6, 1940, Andale
(pronounced Au-de-ohl) noticed an ominous
bank of dark clouds in the sky, as
a light
mist fell. During the night the wind started blowing
harder, as the mist turned into a deluge
of water.
The following day the rain continued pounding
relentlessly. Andale said it was a L�Ouragan, (hurricane)
which occasionally frequented the gulf
coast
states. Rain fell 20� in a 24-hour period and another
20� fell during 4 days of non-stop
rain.
Andale kept a close watch for raising water. He tried sleep, but was restless as he anticipated
the inevitable flooding. It finally came on the evening of the 3rd night.
The year was unusually wet; the ground was
saturated, as bayous and canals were
overflowing
with water. There was no place for the water to go, but
up.
Most of southwest Louisiana was inundated
with water for 6 days. Trains were used to evacuate thousands of
flooded victims to refugee camps in
Lafayette
and Baton Rouge. Trains also carried food and supplies for
the needy. In spite of the flooding, most chose to stay
in order to get a quick start on repairs
and cleaning.
The cities and town�s businesses were paralyzed
due to flooding. The only mode of transportation was by small
boat, until the water receded enough
to use
horse and buggy. Nearly all of the automobiles were flooded. Acadia Parish schools were closed an additional
2 weeks due to flooding and wind damage.
Fortunately, no human deaths were attributed
to the flooding, but an estimated 50,000
animals drowned or died of starvation
during
the ordeal.
After the rain and flooding, the scorching,
hot and humid August sun didn�t help
the
nauseating and omnipresent smell of
the dead
animals mixed with decaying vegetation.
Thousands of pounds of lime were used to
spread over the dead animals in an
effort
to curb the smell. Most of the carcasses were later gathered
and burned.
The parish health officials issued warnings
about drinking surface water or water
from
shallow wells until it was sterilized,
or
disinfected by the use of chloride
and boiling
the water before consumption. The doctors also urged vaccination against
Typhoid fever.
Once the removal of mud, water and debris
from homes and businesses were removed
and
cleaned; some of the wood floorings
and walls
buckled after drying and had to be
replaced.
The majority of the people didn�t have insurance,
but they were thankful for the generous
help
and offering by friends and neighbors
from
cities and states across the country
with
money, food and clothing. They just wanted to get their lives back
as quickly as possible.
Andale didn�t loose any animals during the
flood. The animals survived by standing on the raised
bank of a drainage canal, located on
the
far end of the farm. Some of the animals� legs were swollen from
standing in water for such a long period
of time, and unable to move.
The cotton and rice crop weren�t so lucky;
they were nearly totally devastated.
People compare the flood of 1927 to the flood
of 1940. The flood of 1927 rained for 3 days and the
amount of rainfall was measured at
13.49
inches. What made the flood of 1927 worse were the
levee breaks.
The flood of 1940 brought out a popular joke
from the flood of 1927. A rescue worker sees a young man in waist
high water, walking towards a railcar.
�Are you a refugee?� asked the rescue worker.
�Mais non, (Well no) I�m a Courville,� said
the young man.
|