More Than 70 Vietnamese Feared Dead in Empire, Mississippi

[beetbox]

More than 70 Vietnamese Feared Dead in Empire, Mississippi

News Flash, Viet Bao staff writers - Compiled and translated by Andrew Lam,
Viet Bao, Sep 05, 2005

According to Mr. Phan Bao, who wrote to Viet Bao newspaper, “Just within one small group of people who lived in Buras and Empire area of Mississippi, there are more than 70 who died. It’s an area where the Mississippi river pours into the Gulf of Mexico, about 2 hours south of New Orleans.” It’s so far south and remote, “It’s why nobody bothered to come and rescue and that’s why there’s no news of what happened there.”

“The entire area is now under water. The church, which is central there, can only be seen with its cross poking out of the water.”

There has been no news of what happened to the Vietnamese community who once lived there. Many worked in the fishing industry. Viet Bao is unable to confirm the number of people who have died there.

More than 55,000 Vietnamese Americans have been affected by Katrina. The majority worked in the fishing industry. If only one small community loses more than 70 people to the hurricane – many are divers, many worked as ship builders – it is not difficult to imagine the over all number of Vietnamese who died will be in the hundreds. And, hoopefully, it will not be in the thousands.

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=71657f52e44d95748f5fa390a1700e50

[SmokingJacket]

1. Buras and Empire are in Louisiana

Along the Mississippi River... which is probably why the mistake...

[TacticalPeek]

2. At least they were.

They could be around Waveland now, it's hard to tell.

:(

[beetbox]

3. Perhaps the headline should be altered

Is that okay to do as per DU rules?

[Jacobin]

8. Can't even get the fricking state right

Media SUCKS.

I love going down the highway to Venice and seeing the shrimpers and oystermen and marshes....thousands of orange trees.

These towns are soooo screwed

[pitohui]

9. could be just a rumor

i actually heard buras was still there, but that too may be rumor

i'll hope for the best rather than put much faith in a report where they don't even know what state they're talking abt

[babylonsister]

4. I have heard many shrimpers were feared dead; I

guess they sailed their livelihoods out to sea hoping for the best. :(
In TX, many Vietnamese own shrimp boats.

[flamingyouth]

5. I heard the same thing last Sunday night.

People thought they would be safer aboard their shrimp boats. :(

[Zynx]

6. Considering they live in shantys, that's probably right.

Safer is relative, though.

[barb162]

7. some people did make out okay on their boats

They interviewed a couple who lost their house in the last hurricane and for this hurricane they decided to ride it out on the shrimp boat.