August 19, 2015 — The people of Bayou la Batre, Ala., say you know their town by the four seasons.
“Shrimp, fish, crab and oyster,” says Stephanie Nelson Bosarge. “That’s your four seasons.”
Bosarge grew up here in a house less than a thousand feet from the water — one of nine kids, the fourth generation to work in the seafood industry.
Today all that’s left of the house is a concrete slab. Grass and weeds are creeping up over what’s left of the oyster run, where a conveyor belt once carried shells between the shuckers.
“This is living proof right here,” says Paul Nelson, Bosarge’s brother, “that the grass grows over and people forget about what was here, what was raised here, what was done here.”
The Impact Of Katrina
Hurricane Katrina sent nearly 14 feet of water into Bayou la Batre, inundating homes and businesses. Rebuilding was out of reach. Insurance paid off debt, but there wasn’t enough left to start again.
“Before Katrina, everything was a struggle. After Katrina, everything was impossible,” Bosarge says.