For the sugar industry, the 2005 hurricane season likewise life changing. And it didn't end with Katrina. Less publicized Hurricanes Rita and Wilma followed, and the damage they inflicted was devastating—even if few people outside of southern Louisiana and Florida even remember they happened.

1. 2005
Hurricanes
PHOTO DIARY:
Picking Up
the Pieces

3. Hurricane Katrina battered cane farms just outside of New Orleans.
Heavy winds blew over cane stalks, making the crop difficult to harvest
and lowering the cane’s sugar content.

4. But sugar farmers knew that it could have been a lot worse.
They felt fortunate that Katrina’s wrath was not more severe, until…

5. …they learned what happened to the state’s most important sugar refinery.

6. Domino Sugar’s refinery in Chalmette was crippled for four months.
It refines 50-55% of Louisiana’s sugarcane crop and produces
nearly 19% of America’s refined cane sugar.

7. Water levels rose to 9 feet in the rear of the plant.
Flood waters destroyed the plant’s two electricity-generating substations.
Electrical equipment on the refinery’s first floor was demolished.

8. Nearly 8 million pounds of refined sugar in the warehouse was flooded,
creating a gooey mess about two-feet deep.

9. The refinery became a staging ground for rescue operations.

10. 215 of the refinery’s 295 employees were left homeless, and many resided in
mobile homes at the refinery—a community nicknamed “Chateau Domino.”

11. Their lives changed forever, the men and women of “Chateau Domino” turned
their attention to repairing homes and the refinery.

12. Many said the Chalmette refinery would never operate again. They were wrong.
The refinery reopened its doors on Dec. 12.

14. Weeks after Katrina, Hurricane Rita came calling, leaving more than
30,000 acres of Louisiana sugarcane under salt water.
That’s enough water to flood 70% of Washington, DC.

15. Murky lakes replaced cane fields throughout the southern part of the state.

16. Only after days of draining and pumping did the tips of eight-foot-tall
cane reappear. This field was still under 5 to 6 feet of salt water.

17. When the water finally receded, debris was left behind.
This farmer’s home was swept off of its foundation and
dropped in the middle of his cane field 200 yards away.

18. Another farmer was even more surprised to
find shrimp boats from the Gulf on his land.

19. Debris made harvest, which had to be delayed more than two weeks,
more difficult and much more expensive.

20. Explosive tanks that littered the fields—many buried by sludge—also
made harvest more dangerous.

21. Young cane in recently planted fields died and had to be replanted.
Because planting accounts for roughly 30% of a farmer’s operating costs,
flooded fields will be money losers for years to come.

22. 131,000 tons of Louisiana sugar was lost during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Damage to the Louisiana cane industry is expected to total $128 million.

23. The industry and the communities it supports must be rebuilt.
Louisiana will need a stable U.S. sugar policy.

25. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn’t done.
Hurricane Wilma parked over the sugar-growing region of Florida,
pounding the area with 100 mph winds for 5 hours.

26. Every sugar field in the state was hit,
and 100% of Florida’s sugar crop was flattened and damaged.

27. Sugar mills in the state weren’t spared either.

28. Farm equipment was lost…

29. …rail cars used to transport sugar were toppled…

30. …and sugar storage sheds were compromised.

31. Total sugar production loss is estimated at 531,000 tons,
and damage to Florida’s sugar industry will exceed $500 million.

32. Like their colleagues in Louisiana,
Florida’s sugar producers need sugar policy stability.

33. Congress should extend
America’s no-cost sugar policy.
It has a proven track record and
will be key to Louisiana and
Florida rebuilding efforts.