LPB presents the broadcast premiere of “Cajundome City”
In 2005, the flooding of Hurricane Katrina drove tens of thousands of evacuees away from their homes.
The state of Louisiana evacuated approximately 1.5 million people before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. However, approximately 150,000 to 200,000 individuals remained during the storm according to the National Library of Medicine.
Thousands of people boarded buses and headed away from everything they knew and owned, thousands ended up in Lafayette. This is the story of what happened next.
The Louisiana Public Broadcasting premiered an independent documentary called, Cajundome City on Aug. 23 for its first public broadcast. The film follows a book from Acadian House Publishing in 2017 known as “The Day of the Cajundome Mega-shelter.”
The 160-page book describes how the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., evolved into the nation's first mega-shelter. With a population of over 7,000 at its peak, this facility became a model for the rest of the nation, with its own medical clinic, security systems, post office and other amenities of a small city.
Trent Angers, one of the executive producers of the film explains the origin of Cajundome City began with Greg Davis, the Arena Manager at Cajun Dome & Convention Center, who first received the call from the state police. "There were 17 buses looking for a place for people to stay, and all the surrounding areas were full and couldn't take them in. Davis received a call from the state police around midnight stating 17 buses that have nowhere to go and from there the story begins."
The other executive producer of the film is Dr. Paul Azar, who served as Medical Director of the Cajundome Mega-Shelter and was supervisor of the on-premises clinic that accommodated some 5,000 doctor visits for Katrina evacuees.
"I received a call from Greg Davis saying there are 17 buses headed to Lafayette full of evacuees, and they are sick. So I put on my scrubs, and I called the medical society, every ER and we set up a triage," said Azar.
The documentary features interviews with key figures involved in the sheltering operation, the story of the 17 buses as well and hurricane survivors who became Cajundome residents. It explores the struggles facing the Cajundome staff, volunteers, and Lafayette leaders as they attempted to provide hurricane evacuees much more than the basics required for survival.
Cajundome City, co-directed by Chris Allain with his son Christopher, is a tale they thought important to tell. “Our goal from the beginning of this project was to shine a light on the incredible effort of the Cajundome staff and volunteers. We believe the Cajundome City story will be of great interest to those who’ve built their lives in Louisiana,” Allain says.
The documentary is available for on-demand streaming with an LPB passport, which is an extended member benefit. Find more details at www.lpb.org/programs/cajundome-city.
For information on future screenings, email cajundomecity@vidox.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: The story of how Hurricane Katrina evacuees ended up in Lafayette
