page_title: Chalmette, Louisiana
section_title: Hurricane Katrina
hierarchical_section_title: Chalmette, Louisiana / History / Hurricane Katrina
caption_attribution_description: English: Hurricane Katrina photo of oil spill in Chalmette, showing oil tanks &amp; streets covered with oil slick. US EPA photo from "http://www.epa.gov/katrina/images/oilspill_650.jpg" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (webpage of June 16, 2006).
context_page_description: Chalmette is a census-designated place in, and the parish seat of St. Bernard Parish, in southeast Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census reported that Chalmette had 16,751 people. The 2011 population is listed as 17,119; however, the pre-Katrina population was 32,069 at the 2000 census. The population hence declined by 46% between 2000 and 2010. Chalmette is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. Chalmette is located east of downtown New Orleans and south of Arabi, towards Lake Borgne.
  The community was named for plantation owner Louis-Xavier Martin de Lino de Chalmette. Chalmette was appended to the family name after acquiring their Louisiana plantation, in honour of Louis-Xavier Martin de Lino's paternal great-grandmother, Antoinette Chalmette "Chalmette," in French, means pasture, or fallow land.
context_section_description: On August 29, 2005, a 25-foot (7.6 m) storm surge from Hurricane Katrina overflowed through the Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal (commonly known as MRGO) — a commercial channel dug by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s — and flooded most of the town, with waters as high as 14 to 15 feet (4.9 m)
  in some places. As a result, Chalmette was extensively swamped and destroyed. A majority of the population evacuated shortly before the storm hit, but there was still significant loss of life.
  As of 25 October 2005, most of the buildings were deemed unsalvageable. Despite findings published by the U.S. EPA, the toxic chemicals in the water from local oil refineries have been postulated to be an ongoing health hazard by several civilian ecological groups. Especially notable was the large oil spill originating in Chalmette's Murphy Oil facility, where the storm surge knocked over a huge oil tank (see photo below).
  The parish administrative headquarters served as the site for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer park for numerous civil servants who were laboring in the rebuilding effort. A year later, parish employees were still working shifts around the clock to bring the community back to life.
  Another center in the rebuilding effort was centered at the church of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, which served the congregations of the seven other Roman Catholic parishes as well as the main office of Catholic Relief Services. It also served as the only place to hold funerals for the first 12 months after Katrina.
  Deputies working for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff stated in early December 2005 that the oil tank floated in the flood. When the water receded, the tank settled on uneven ground. Its structural integrity was compromised, and then the oil spill occurred. By late November, the Murphy facility was functional, as was a small cluster of businesses around the intersection of Paris Road and St. Bernard Highway, on the least damaged River side of Chalmette. The devastated residential areas farther away from the River were open during daylight hours, for residents to salvage belongings from their damaged homes. The majority of people staying in Chalmette full-time were living in trailers, which began to be supplied by FEMA or private enterprises on October 12; although many who had been promised FEMA trailer housing were still waiting as late as March 2006, seven months after the hurricane.
  "Camp Premier," renamed "Camp Hope," was established as a base camp for the community's rebuilding efforts, facilitating the work of relief organizations, the National Guard, and private individuals. As of August 2007, the camp is located at P.G.T. Beauregard Middle School and operated by Habitat for Humanity, to provide for relief volunteers in St. Bernard Parish. Other organizations, such as the St. Bernard Project, have also participated in the rebuilding of Chalmette, from distributing supplies, to clearing debris, to repairing damaged houses.
  The Chalmette Battlefield was also partially flooded in low-lying areas, destroying the visitor center, which has since been rebuilt.
caption: Hurricane Katrina: aerial photo of oil spill in Chalmette, showing oil slick on streets (September 2005).
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