“The flood”: a moment by moment encounter of a disaster

By: Donna Culotta

If there’s one thing you think will be a constant in your life, it is the home you
live in. The Flood of 2026 changed that thinking as the good people of lower Avoyelles watched water seep unrelentingly into their house. One such couple is
Angie and Andy Dixon of Dupont, where the rain from Tropical Storm Arthur didn’t just flow by it accumulated until it was sure a record had been broken.
This is their story. “We were in Ferriday Monday-Wednesday, June 15-17 and it was raining there. I even used an umbrella to help people come in,” Angie said.
She and her husband, Andy, run the nonprofit organization ASIST, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, which teaches how to recognize individuals with thoughts of suicide and how to provide suicide first-aid to keep an individual safe. “We returned home Wednesday evening and the rain still fell into Thursday.
That’s when Andy decided to take our daughter to work because she had a low riding car,” Angie continued. It was after Andy had left that Angie decided the
chickens needed to be moved to higher ground because “I noticed the water was starting to rise.” While she was corralling chickens to move, Angie’s mother called and told her, “I think we’re going to flood!” Angie’s parents Patsy and Wayne Bordelon, only live three or four miles away. “When we opened their door, water was sloshing around and they were putting up furniture. “My brother said it was
time to go and we went back to our house, which was on pillars and we thought was a refuge. There Andy started moving outdoor equipment to high ground.”
The water kept rising and Patsy and Wayne had to repack their bags and move
again. Down the road was the Dixon’s son’s house but water was threatening his
home, too. “We stopped in Lavonia and got a motel room for my parents but we had to go back. We were leaving my parents with no food, no car. I asked the Lavonia Chief of Police to watch over them. That’s where I cried for the first time. He did take care of them as well as others who were so kind to my parents. They fed and watched after them ” Upon returning to Dupont, it was obvious that Angie’s son’s house was going to flood. “We got 400 sandbags from Palmetto, dug a trench around the house and wrapped it in visqueen. For 19 hours we used ShopVacs inside and eventually saved his house.” Meanwhile from over at
Angie and Andy’s house a neighbor had called to tell them that their horses were
in “belly deep water.” “We found the horses and also found that the house had two inches of water so we picked up some furniture,” Angie said. They had to take the
horses, after they found them, a mile down the road in high water. “While we
were wading out the horses there was an alligator swimming in front of us,” she remarked, and added, “he didn’t bother us.” She continued, “the Saturday after the flood we put dehumidifiers in the house and pulled out the base boards.
We thought we’d be fine so we went to help others.” But the Dixons weren’t
fine, “the floors needed to go, we dumped our appliances and pulled the walls.” When they’d find out someone else needed help, the Dixons left their house and
went to help. Much was provided for flood victims and Angie told how they were given cooked meals, “We ate better than we normally do,” she laughed. Angie’s parents were safe in Zachary for the duration and her son’s house was being redone. Miraculously they found a contractor; working with FEMA was not a hassle; they had the benefit of staying in a camp close by “and;” Angie said, “we even had a laundry fairy, who picked up the laundry and returned it clean and
folded.” She recounted an example of how much was provided and given. “I needed high socks so I stopped at the community center where
supplies had been donated. All I wanted were high socks but when I left I had
been given so much and these were things I definitely needed but didn’t know I needed. And an able body came with us to help. “There are many more good people than bad,” Angie proclaimed. Although TS Arthur set flooding records and generally was a very, very bad boy, Angie looks at it from
different perspective. “God has been with us through all of this,” she said
with conviction.