NOVEMBER 2022

Feature
Grand Isle: Paradise Needs Protecting
BY CHARLOTTE SMITH
Many of us have a Grand
Isle story. It’s hard not to be
drawn to the little town of
paradisal views when the
sun sets just right on the
Gulf’s horizon, and sunrises
that make you lose your
breath for a moment simply
from the beauty of them.
When I was in college, I
sang in a cover band. Twice
a month we’d hit the road
from Baton Rouge and
make the trek to Grand
Isle. I loved that drive.
Once we’d hit the Sunshine
Bridge, I could feel the
anticipation of crabbing in
the mornings, sunburns in
the afternoons, and putting
smiles on the faces of
locals and tourists just back
from fishing while I belted out power ballads all through
the night. They are more than a few of my fondest
memories. I loved that town. I love it still, so I’ve followed
Grand Isle’s story since then, some 30 years ago. And
with each storm that hits, I feel the tension in my own
body as though I’m bracing for it myself.
Sadly, Grand Isle is also the apple of many a hurricane’s
eye. There’s damage on top of damage as a long list of
storms have made their way onto Grand Isle’s shores.
With each direct hit, a part of my past feels washed
away. I watch the news and see buildings lost, and I hear
reporters rattling off statistics on landmass also gone as
a ravaged coastline becomes more and more defeated.
But there’s a new crisis facing Grand Isle now, and the
fact that it’s down to the forcing of a hand in terms of
difficult decisions makes it even harder to bear.
The town can’t afford wind insurance. There’s no longer
an if, but a when in terms of storms. And when the next
storm hits, the repercussions of this lack of insurance will
be felt long after any cleanup. Because without insurance,
there are no dollars coming in for repairs.
In just one year, the town’s wind insurance rates have
more than doubled, and the town simply can’t afford the
costs any longer. $161,000 is a lot for wind insurance in
a town still awaiting millions in federal aid, and money
must come from somewhere to pay town employees
- employees who have also lost homes and need an
income to keep what little they have together for their
families. So, at this moment in time, Grand Isle is without
wind insurance on a number of its town properties - the
town hall, the police department, the police chief storage
building, the community center, the multiplex, and
the town’s storage building. If another storm hits, and
the wind huffs, and it puffs, and it blows them all down,
without insurance it’s anyone’s guess what Grand Isle
will be able to do. And, sadly, the odds aren’t in its favor.
Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle isn’t a man to hold
back on the magnitude of emotion that surrounds this
situation. He knows insurance is necessary, but so are his
employees.
“I know this is risky, but what do you do when it comes
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LMR | NOVEMBER 2022