Choates will never forget Hurricane Rita

By: Chris Rosa
ESTHER - Hurricane Rita may have made landfall in Texas on Sept. 23, 2005, but residents in Vermilion Parish felt the effect of Rita on Sept. 24, 2005 – the day the storm surge arrived.

Hurricane Rita, packing 120 mile per hour winds, was expected to make landfall west of Vermilion Parish and about the only thing residents may feel was wind.

So, Boyd and Cliff Choate stayed home in Esther the night Hurricane Rita was

expected to make landfall. Boyd, who is from Pecan Island, is no stranger to riding out hurricanes.

Boyd has stayed for storms since he was small. He survived Hurricane Audrey in 1957 when it hit in Cameron Parish. He was around six years old and with his parents on a barge when Audrey came ashore. The water surge from Audrey pushed the barge into White Lake with the Choates on board. Everyone survived.

Fast forward 53 years. Vermilion Parish has not seen anything like Audrey since, so the Choates had nothing to fear other than wind. But this time, it would be different.

Hurricane Rita’s winds pushed a 12-foot high surge of water that was seen as far north as Abbeville and Gueydan.

The Choates noticed the water surge as it slowly came up while they took turns sleeping. The water began rising at around 4 a.m. on Sept. 24.

“The water began rising in the house,” said Boyd. “We began going around picking up things in the house and putting them in the attic such as food and other things we may need.”

They decided to climb into the attic to escape the rising water - a place they remained for a few hours. In that time, they heard a tornado rip apart their sheds and destroy part of their home. The tornado winds did sound like a train.

“I never got scared,” said Boyd. “I had been through a hurricane before with my parents for Hurricane Audrey.”

After things calmed down, the Choates decided to get out of the attic. With furniture and appliances floating around in their home, they elected to escape through the attic. Cliff fired a couple of shots through the side of the house, creating a hole. Cliff crawled through the hole, jumped into the water, which was about five feet high, swam to his neighbor’s house across the street to get a boat.

He managed to get a boat started, drove it to their house and Boyd climbed in it and they headed north. But before they could get too far, the bilge pump was not working and the boat began taking on water. They used a five-gallon bucket to remove the water. The pulled up next to a tree and tied up while they looked at the pump. At that time they had a choice, climb in the tree scattered with snakes or try to work on the pump. They elected to work on the pump.

They eventually got it to work and took off northward in the boat.

But a few miles later, they ran out of gas and drifted.

Eventually, they would be picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter.

Boyd and Cheryl Choate would never go back to their Esther house. They demolished it and eventually moved to Abbeville.

“It seems like a lot longer than that,” said Boyd. “A lot has happened in our lives since then.”

For Cliff, prior to the storm, he was trying to get his life back together. Eight months earlier, he was fighting in Iraq in the U.S. Army. He returned to Esther and lived in Pecan Island. He lost many personal belongings that were at his parents’ home.

Today, he is still trying to piece his life back together since the storm. He and his wife then are divorced.

“It seems like forever,” Cliff said. “I have been working here and there. I have gotten back on my feet. I am not one to wait around for help. I did what I had to do. I picked myself up and started over.”

Like many others in the parish did after Sept. 24, 2005.