Riding out Hurricane Besty in Westwego
David Camardelle by Earl Robicheaux, 2009; 4700.2034
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Hurricane Betsy in the Gulf of Mexico in September 1965, as taken by the TIROS VIII weather satellite. NOAA.
TEMPESTS: Storms in the Archives
Earl Robicheaux: Do you have any memories of any specific hurricane where you witnessed things happen during the hurricane?
David Camardelle: Yes. We evacuated for Betsy and we went to Westwego. I was a little boy, and Roger [Camardelle], all the Camardelles got together at my grandmother's house in Avenue A. And I'll never forget [meteorologist] Nash Roberts with his little black crayon circling, it was a black and white television, "It's not going to hit." About ten o'clock that night, "It's not going to be bad." All of a sudden my grandmother's roof come off in Westwego. And I remember we all ran. Sheets of tin were flying on Avenue A. I remember running to my other aunt's house which was next door, and we're all piling up. Believe it or not, my Uncle Roger, his wife, Aunt Lois, they forgot their baby in the little . . . one of the babies because he was underneath the table. And that's the young man that y'all rode in the boat with today with was Noel.
Robicheaux: Really.
Camardelle: Noel was in that baby crib. And she goes, "Oh!" She had five of six of them and she goes, "We forgot Noel!" So they went back, run in the house. It was still raining, but he was underneath the table and they grabbed the baby. And I tease Noel, I said, "Sometimes I bet you we should've left you over there!" [Camardelle and Robicheaux laugh] But it was crazy, but it's one of the memories - I was a young boy, and I remember that we all had to run for Betsy.