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Coleen Perilloux Landry | all galleries >> Galleries >> Hurricane Katrina Was No Lady > Lionel's Boat in Bay St. Louis
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23 June 2009 Coleen Perilloux Landry

Lionel's Boat in Bay St. Louis

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

This house was formerly Webb School. It is located a quarter mile from the Gulf of Mexico. The boat sailed the streets of the town borne by the greatest storm surge in American history.
This boat belonged to a man named Lionel whose car was knocked off the Pontchartrain Causeway in 1981 drowning him and his three year old daughter.
The boat had been tied up at his mother's house ever since. During Katrina when the tidal surge hit, his mother and three other family members were about to drown when the boat broke loose from its moorings and, as though directed by someone, drove right up to where the mother was struggling in the water. The four got in the boat and ended up here at this house where the inhabitants pulled them in to safety. They rode out the winds and water of Katrina in this strong building with water up to the second story.
The boat has stayed here as a monument to Lionel and is being used as a flower garden.
Just one of the million stories to come out of Hurricane Katrina.


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Guest 28-Jun-2009 02:14
Coleen
Very moving story.
This story along with others that you have posted on your site regarding Katrina would make a great coffee table book.
A J Adams27-Jun-2009 22:01
That is a beautiful story and picture to go with it.
Nicki Thurgar27-Jun-2009 19:14
What an incredible story... quite heart wrenching.
Guest 27-Jun-2009 12:58
Makes you wonder about fate and destiny !!!! And we think we're in control. Beautiful story and photo.
Zak27-Jun-2009 08:25
Great story!
laine27-Jun-2009 02:58
Brings tears to my eyes, Coleen. What a wonderful outcome !!!
Donnaray27-Jun-2009 02:46
As many times as I have past this bring my boys back and forth to school I'd never know the story behind the boat. Thanks so much for presenting so much more than just a beautiful photograph.