MORGAN CITY, La.—“Stop,” urged Chaplain Leslie Burch of the Texans on Mission Deep East Texas flood recovery team. “Can everybody stop and pray with me?”
She asked her fellow team members to halt their work as they tore out flooring in the home of Troy and Angel in Morgan City, La.
Texans on Mission’s Deep East Texas flood recovery team tear out water-damaged flooring from a home in Morgan City, La. (Texans on Mission Photo / Russ Dilday)
The couple’s home had been flooded during heavy rains that hit the Mississippi Delta town the week before as Hurricane Francine landed in southern Louisiana.
“Troy and Angel are talking about accepting Christ, and we need to pray for God’s Spirit,” Burch explained.
It was all she needed to say. The group left their scrapers, shovels and wheelbarrows, gathered in the living room, now an empty space with bare concrete floors, held hands and prayed for the young homeowners and their children.
Members of the Texans on Mission Deep East Texas disaster relief team pray with a couple in Morgan City, La., whose home was damaged by floodwaters caused by Hurricane Francine. (Texans on Mission Photo / Russ Dilday)
The Texans on Mission team was one of two that responded to Francine’s aftermath, joining partner groups from several other states to provide flood recovery and tree and debris removal after the violent storm.
Like many Texans on Mission teams, the Francine volunteers represented a mix of churches and backgrounds from throughout southeastern Texas.
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Burch, a member of First Baptist Church of Orange, said the team came to “serve the needs” of the flood victims.
Team leader Mike Petigo of First Baptist Church in Nederland explained the team had been assigned to do flood recovery.
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“We’re taking out sheetrock and disinfecting their homes so that survivors can get ready to put new sheetrock back in,” Petigo said.
For Steve Hammer of Covenant Church in Willis, the recovery efforts were about “getting it all cleaned out so these people can get on with their lives.
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“We’re here today, about a week after the hurricane came through, and it’s important,” Hammer added. “We’re cleaning out houses now, because it gets nastier and nastier and nastier as time goes on.”
Pastor on the receiving end of ministry
Homeowners Tracey and Marci Smith were grateful for the team, who removed the lower two feet of their home’s sheetrock to ready it for replacement after flood waters seeped in and posed a mold danger.
It was especially meaningful for Tracey Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church of Morgan City, where the combined relief teams camped in Bible study rooms and ate in the fellowship hall.
Texans on Mission volunteers removed flood-damaged drywall from the home of Pastor Tracey Smith of First Baptist Church in Morgan City, La., and his wife Marci. (Texans on Mission Photo / Russ Dilday)
Smith has been involved in Louisiana Baptist disaster relief in previous hurricane recoveries, but after Francine flooded his home, he found himself on the receiving end of disaster response.
Taking a break from helping the Texas team tear out lower walls and treat for mold, he offered his perspective on the recent storm.
“Well, we’ve been through this before. We’ve been through Hurricanes Laura and Delta back in 2020. But we didn’t have flooding like this,” Smith said.
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Smith rode out the flooding in his truck outside his home. Marci Smith said that as the water rose and came closer to their house, Tracey “sat in the truck with the two dogs” near his fishing boat in case he needed to “help our neighbors escape.” It was not needed, but he was ready to help.
Texans on Mission volunteers from Deep East Texas pray with Tracey and Marci Smith in Morgan City, La. (Texans on Mission Photo / Russ Dilday)
The Smiths’ own home became surrounded by an unbroken sea of water.
“It’s just kind of a hopeless feeling not being able to stop or prevent that from happening,” Tracey said.
The day after the storm, he said, the couple noticed the water “was migrating more and more throughout the house.
“So, we didn’t know to what degree we were going to have to remove the flooring or walls or anything like that,” he said. “It pretty much changes your routine and most definitely changes your way of life. You know that it’s not going to be back to what you would consider normal anytime soon.”
Tracey Smith has responded to other disasters, including Hurricane Ian in 2022 when he worked with Texas volunteers. So, he knew what to expect from the volunteers when they arrived.
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“We knew the quality job” they would do, Tracey said. “We knew that they were going to be more than willing to do whatever we needed. And we were just glad to have them. … This is a good bunch.”
A Louisiana babysitter was arrested after a toddler fell into a pool and drowned after being left underwater for 20 minutes, according to authorities.
Joann Johnson, 37, was charged with one count of negligent homicide on Wednesday after the 3-year-old boy died in her in-home daycare in Prairieville on May 18, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Joann Johnson, 37, was arrested after a toddler fell into a pool at her in-home daycare and drowned after being left underwater for 20 minutes. Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office
Two young children in Johnson’s care were playing in the backyard that afternoon, “without any safety wear,” when the 3-year-old fell into the pool and drowned, cops wrote in a statement.
The toddler was unconscious for a whopping 20 minutes before Johnson was seen on surveillance footage pulling him out of the water, police said.
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Emergency responders rushed to revive the boy with CPR, but he was ultimately pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Emergency responders rushed to revive the boy with CPR, but he was ultimately pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Police filed an arrest warrant for Johnson following an investigation. The babysitter turned herself in on Wednesday and was booked into the Ascension Parish Jail.
Drowning is the number one cause of death for children 1-4 years old in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – Louisiana Tech University’s College of Education and Human Sciences announced it has established a new Center for Literacy and Learning designed to expand evidence-based reading support for children and professional development for educators across North Louisiana.
The university’s Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership said the launch of the Center for Literacy and Learning at Louisiana Tech, also known as L3, will provide diagnostic assessments, tutoring and workshop opportunities, combining academic research with hands-on clinical practice.
“As literacy rates and reading achievement continue to present challenges across Louisiana and the nation, the Center for Literacy and Learning is rooted in supporting evidence-based instruction, applied research, and community partnerships,” said Dr. Dustin Whitlock, interim department head of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership.
Officials said planning for the center began more than a decade ago as faculty sought to expand literacy services for local schools and the surrounding community, but the effort faced delays due to space and funding challenges.
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University leaders said momentum increased after faculty partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education and literacy experts nationwide to create a professional learning course for Louisiana K-3 educators. The course, “The Science and Art of Teaching Reading,” focuses on structured literacy practices aligned with Science of Reading research. Louisiana Tech said funding connected to the course and the state education department helped make the center possible.
Megan Hunt, a teacher at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School, was selected to lead the center. Whitlock said Hunt brings a strong background in foundational literacy instruction and is working toward becoming a certified UFLI coach.
“Mrs. Hunt’s skill and expertise allow her to support both students and educators through high-quality literacy instruction and professional learning,” Whitlock said.
Hunt said the center is aimed at building long-term support for literacy instruction through collaboration with districts, families and community partners.
“Literacy affects all aspects of life and is ultimately how people access opportunity and how communities grow stronger,” Hunt said. “When children become proficient readers, it represents more than just academic progress; it changes the trajectory of their lives.”
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Local school leaders also praised the partnership. Michelle Thrower, K-2 facilitator for Lincoln Parish Schools, said professional development and resources connected to Louisiana Tech have supported literacy growth in the district.
“Our collaboration with Louisiana Tech has been a cornerstone of our success in elevating literacy proficiency across Lincoln Parish Schools,” Thrower said, citing DIBELS growth tied to the UFLI Foundations curriculum in K-2.
Louisiana Tech said the center will operate through three main components:
The Literacy Clinic
The Literacy Institute
The Literacy Resource Center.
The center is expected to provide individualized assessments, targeted intervention services, literacy workshops and educator professional development.
Officials said the components will be developed in phases over the next few years.
For more information, Louisiana Tech said the public can contact Dr. Dustin Whitlock at whitlock@latech.edu.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday that Louisiana was one of the few states chosen for a $134 million rare earth element initiative in a move that would give the U.S. more independence from China, Reuters reports.
ElementUSA has been awarded about $67 million for a rare earth refining facility projected to cost $850 million in St. John the Baptist Parish to ramp up its production of core material for military vehicles, naval ships and aircrafts.
Louisiana’s rare earth element initiatives are aimed at relocating the critical American minerals supply chain for electric vehicles, renewable energy and national defense. The minerals include bauxite residue, which is a waste product from aluminium production. The plant is expected to produce roughly 150-1,000 metric tons of rare earths annually.
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Oklahoma was also chosen to receive grant money for a refining facility in Tulsa.
