The America’s WETLAND Foundation is proud to sponsor, Storm Warning: Last Stand for America’s WETLAND, a 24-hour citizen’s rally to herald the opening of the 2009 hurricane season. Storm Warning will be held May 30-June 1 and will include educational public demonstrations and free concert rallies to heighten awareness among residents of the coast and the rest of the nation about the consequences of the impending loss of wetlands in Louisiana. We invite you to be a part of this historic event as we bring this impending tragedy to the attention of the nation and the world.
This 4th annual Storm Warning will focus on what will be lost if nothing is done to restore and protect Louisiana’s coast.
RIVERFRONT CONCERT AND PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION
4-7 PM at Woldenberg Riverfront Park (adjacent to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas) New Orleans, LA
The festivities will begin with a rally-style concert featuring, interactive demonstrations, a water show, and performances from top New Orleans acts: Irma Thomas, Hot 8 Brass Band, and Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. That evening, at 8:00 p.m., a lead vessel will depart the port of New Orleans and journey to Larose to meet participants for a flotilla to Houma on May 31.
INTRACOASTAL BOAT PARADES TO HOUMA
Larose to Houma - At 9 AM, boat owners and operators are invited to join the lead vessel and U.S. Coast Guard at the intersection of Bayou Lafourche and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Larose for a blessing of the fleet between 9:30-9:45 before a cruise westward along the Intracoastal Waterway to Houma.
Morgan City to Houma - At 9 AM, boat owners and operators are invited to join the lead vessel at the Amelia Public Boat Launch in Amelia for a blessing of the fleet between 9:30-9:45 before traveling eastward along the Intracoastal Waterway to Houma.
Once gathered in the Houma’s Downtown Marina, boats from Larose and Morgan City flotillas will meet watercraft and land-based participants in Houma for the Last Stand for America’s WETLAND festivities in Houma.
HOUMA CONCERT AND PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION
Noon to 5 PM at the Houma Downtown Marina
CONCERT
A free concert starring artists Zachary Richard, Waylon Thibodeaux, Chubby Carrier and the Uppressors is attracting widespread local interest.
STORM WARNING SOUNDING
2:00 PM at the Houma Downtown Marina
The sound of boat and foghorns will signal the Storm Warning as the gathering participants will hold reflectors and hurricane flags to illuminate the scene to raise awareness. The Houma event will feature a brief program and presentation of the America’s WETLAND Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award to state Sen. Reggie Dupre, a senator from Houma who has spent years working on behalf of coastal restoration and protection. Other awards will be presented to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and Dennis Woltering, anchor at WWL-TV New Orleans.
SUSTAINING THE UNIQUE CULTURE OF AMERICA’S ENERGY COAST
9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Lake Charles Civic Center
On June 1, the official opening of the Atlantic hurricane season, Lake Charles will host the “Sustaining the Unique Coastal Culture of America's Energy Coast” hearing to discuss challenges and potential solutions for addressing the issues of sustainability unique to this vanishing landscape. To learn more about the hearing, please visit www.americasenergycoast.org.
The America’s WETLAND Foundation is raising national attention to the Storm Warning campaign by highlighting the fact that all the land south of the Intracoastal Waterway will disappear if nothing is done to save or restore America’s WETLAND.