[StBernard] St. Bernard remembers those lost in Katrina

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard remembers those lost in Katrina

06:18 PM CDT on Saturday, August 29, 2009

 Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News

mrodriguez at wwltv.com 


ST. BERNARD, La. - Patricia Noote came to Shell Beach on Saturday, carrying
a picture of her late husband and a heart full of memories. 


"We were married for 50 years," she said. "He never did complain. He always
took in anybody that came along." 

Noote's husband, William, is one of 163 people who died in St. Bernard
Parish as a result of Hurricane Katrina. His name is engraved on the Katrina
memorial, near the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet -- a waterway that helped
funnel Katrina's storm surge into St. Bernard Parish and beyond. 

Like it did to Noote, the storm also made Gayle Couvillion, a widow. 

"My life is never going to be the same. I never thought I'd be a widow at
47," Couvillion said. "That's what happened -- and I mean, we had plans to
grow old together, you know." 

Couvillion also came to the memorial today, clutching a picture of her late
husband, Ned. While she evacuated for the storm, he decided to stay at their
Arabi home to look after their three dogs. Only one dog survived the ordeal,
Ned's body was identified one month after the storm. 

"He, honest to God, did not think it was going to be that bad," Couvillion
said. 

Four years after the storm, St. Bernard officials said they were honoring
those lost, in part, by continuing to push the parish forward in its Katrina
recovery. 

"We will not die as a community, we will not go away and we will not let
these members of our community who have died, die in vain," said St. Bernard
Parish President Craig Taffaro. "We must continue to fight for and partner
with, all levels of government and agencies to continue to protect our
beloved community." 

It is a protection that will come too late to protect those lost. Some
family members regretting that the Katrina victims have already missed out
on four years of new memories. 

"That's the kind of things that make me sad--those things that he is missing
out on," Couvillion said. "But I know he's up there watching. I tell people
that all the time--he's up there watching us." 

St. Bernard Parish officials said they plan to continue gathering at the
memorial every year on the storm's anniversary.