Loss of livestock after Hurricanes Rita and Ike
David Richard and Kent Ledoux by Don Davis and Carl Brasseaux 2009; 4700.2070
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Cattle seek higher ground in a pasture in Vermilion Parish after Rita. LSU AgCenter, 2005.
TEMPESTS: Storms in the Archives
David Richard: It was tough. It was a tough deal, and it's tough bringing back the cattle. Because I worked for thirty years to get a population of cattle that . . . I had a little herd of registered Herefords that we used in the show ring with my kids. I crossed them with Brahman bulls. I raised some of my own bulls. I raised my own heifers. To replace that herd it's going to take me a long time. It's been a tough deal. I estimate we lost 20,000 head for Hurricane Rita. For Hurricane Ike, it hadn't been repopulated. A lot of those cattle had not been repopulated. And most of those cattle moved out of there. I actually lost some for Hurricane Ike for some extenuating circumstances, but was able to save a little less than a hundred head. I lost about fifty head. But I was unable to get them out because of some other circumstances. But in any case, it's been a tough deal in that country for cattle.