IMMEDIATE GOAL

One of the immediate goals of the S.O.C.F. is to engage the community and City of Calabasas in the long term rebuilding of a community affected by Katrina.

In contacting the US Conference of Mayors, the S.O.C.F. was assigned The Parish of Plaquemine in Louisiana as a community in need of assistance.

An interview with the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation members on Calabasas' Your City, Your Issues Click here to watch the video

PLAQUEMINES PARISH PROJECT

Hurricane Katrina struck on 29 August 2005. Martial law was declared until September 12, 2005.
The mainly working-class parish of Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parish were decimated.
Pointe a la Hache was destroyed. The towns of Port Sulpher, Buras, Empire, Boothville, and Venice suffered a similar fate.
Heavy rains accompanied hurricane force winds in excess of 145 mph The storm surge that followed was 20 feet high.
Although the majority of the populace did heed mandatory evacuation orders, tragically many did not.
Preliminary (as of 28 September 2005) reports have many residents still unaccounted for.

Plaquemines Parish

Parish seat: Pointe a la Hache

Geography

Total area of 2,429 square miles
65.22% of total area is water

Cities and Towns

Belle Chasse
Boothville-Venice
Buras-TriumphBuras
Empire
Pilottown
Pointe a la Heche
Port Eads
Port Sulphur
Venice

Adjacent Parishes

New Orleans Parish (north). St. Bernards Parish (northeast). Jefferson Parish (west) Bordered to the south and southeast by the Gulf of Mexico

History

The name "Plaquemines" comes from a Native American word, piakimin, meaning persimmom (the persimmon tree.)

Plaquemines Parish also hosts several oil refineries and provides assistance to 
off-shore oil rigs, Parish' nickname; “Kuwait."

During the Great Mississippi flood of 1927, the city of New Orleans used dynamite to breach a levee at Caernarvon, which saved the city but caused severe flooding and widespread destruction in both St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes.

Plaquemine Parish Schools

Belle Chasse High School Belle Chasse Middle School Belle Chasse Primary School Boothville-Venice High School Buras High School

Buras Middle School Phoenix High School Port Sulphur High School Plaquemines Parish Alternative School

(As of March 6, 2006 only 3 of the above school had been re-opened in the Belle Chasse area post Katrina.  Three additional schools are slated to open in the lower part of the Parish later this year.)