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Long-term harm to marsh system
Katrina, Rita ripped Gulf Coast wildlife and wetland habitat- Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Outdoors Writer
Sunday, August 27, 2006 (08-27) 04:00 PDT Lake Charles, La. -- After Hurricane Katrina plundered the Gulf Coast, Maria Tio returned to her flooded home in New Orleans and found deathlike silence. "There were no sounds at all," Tio said. "It was so eerie. There was no life of any kind from the salt water, not even mosquitoes. Nothing."
In Cameron Parish, Nicole Clark was returning to see what was left of her parents' home after Hurricane Rita roared through. She found an alligator carcass perched in a tree like a scarecrow and the town of Holly Beach scraped clean down to the foundations.
In the heart of the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, a wrecked house that looks as if it were dropped there in a scene out of "The Wizard of Oz" was carried for miles by storm surge.
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Towns and cities testify to the human and social toll exacted by the storms. But the environmental costs can best be understood in places like the refuge. Here, it can be seen how hurricanes launch a catastrophic chain reaction of events, including saltwater inundation, habitat destruction and displacement of wildlife.
<more of a good, comprehensive article from the Chron's Outdoor Writer, Tom Stienstra>
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/27/MNGL2KQ3NA1.DTL&type=printable