Battered by hurricanes and tired of rebuilding, 90% of population has left this coastal town
The consequences of climate change are already taking a toll on some U.S. communities. In Cameron, Louisiana, hope comes from a natural gas plant that activists call a "carbon bomb."
CAMERON PARISH, La. — Seven days a week, Tressie LaBove Smith makes the two-hour round trip from Lake Charles to what’s left of her Cajun restaurant in Cameron, Louisiana, an unincorporated town perched along the stormy Gulf Coast. Business once boomed at Anchors Up Grill, which opened in 2014 as Cameron's only sit-down restaurant.
In 2020, Hurricane Laura destroyed the restaurant along with most of the town. Smith now dishes out Louisiana home cooking from a food trailer to customers dining in a makeshift seating area dotted with a few plastic tables and chairs.
“There’s been times that I’ve thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Smith said. “I’ve been open for 10 years, and this is the toughest time I’ve ever had with my business.”
Cameron and the surrounding area have been devastated by a series of powerful hurricanes: Rita in 2005, Ike in 2008 and Laura and Delta in 2020. Some residents in Cameron have lost and rebuilt their homes four times over.
These days, the locals call Cameron a ghost town.
Rating: 5