Hurricanes and hockey

This is all that was left of 12 year old Taylor Morse's house after Hurricane Katrina. Taylor is one of five Gulf Coast teens chosen by Baton Rouge Youth Ice Hockey to play in the Canadian Pond Hockey Face Off. Photo courtesy Justine Swarner.

Late Thursday night a group of young hockey players arrive in North Bay to play in “The Canadian Pond Hockey Face Off," North Bay’s first ever pond hockey tournament. The five players are all victims of Hurricane Katrina and were selected through Baton Rouge Youth Hockey to take part in this unique event. Their flights, accommodations and enrolment have all been covered thanks to a number of generous local sponsors.

Many of these teen from Louisiana and Mississippi have never seen snow, and none have skated on natural ice before.

Below are the stories of five 12 year olds that have lived through some of our worst nightmares.

Dakota Beaulieu

Dakota is 12 years old, he is in 7th grade he was attending St. Dominic School in New Orleans but since the hurricane he is attending St. Michaels School in Crowley, Louisiana. He lost his home and it has been very hard on him. His family is now living apart. Dakota’s father Ronnie is a New Orleans Fire Captain and has not left the city. The rest of the family is living three hours from him. Dakota has been separated from family, friends, his school and everything that he was use to. Dakota left from the hurricane with only 3 changes of clothes and his hockey equipment and all his medals. He was upset when he returned to our home and saw that everything was destroyed.

Dakota plays on a Peewee A team in Louisiana that is coached by former NHLer Dennis Maruk.

Jeffery “Taylor” Morse

Taylor is 12 years old and lives in Long Beach, Mississippi where he attends 7th grade classes at Long Beach Middle School. During Hurricane Katrina he had to escape from the house he evacuated to due to fast rising water. He, his family, and three dogs had to wade through chest deep, fast flowing water with more than 100 mph winds to higher ground where they rode out the remaining five and a half hours of the storm under an open carport with a metal roof. He returned to Long Beach two days later where the only thing left of his lifelong home was a slab. He was without a home for nine weeks. He had to live with another family, away from his parents, for six weeks. His father has been continually in and out of the hospital due to injuries he received during and after the storm which has finally resulted in the amputation of one of his legs.

Brennan O'Connor

Brennan O'Connor is 12 years old. He is in the 7th grade and attends Haynes Middle School for Advanced Studies. Brennan lives in Metairie, LA. As a family, they evacuated to Lake Charles. After the city flooded, they made the necessary arrangements for Brennan's father to return to the city and found an apartment in Baton Rouge to live in temporarily. Brennan's father returned to the city escorted by the National Guard. He is a general contractor. They stayed in Baton Rouge and enrolled Brennan and his sister in a local school. The family remained in Baton Rouge until their schools could open in New Orleans. We returned to the city at the end of September. When they returned, the streets were still filled with debris. The trash piles got larger and larger over the next month. The largest area used to temporarily store debris was less than a mile from our house. It was piled up over two stories high. There were very few people in the city, and the national guard was still very present. They were unable to get groceries or gas locally. If a local establishment could open, it only opened for a few hours each day. Lines were long and entry was monitored by security personnel. There were no local restaurants operating and you could not go to the mall. There were no theatres and no local activities for children. Many of Brennan's friends were able to return, however many of them lost belongings and or their homes entirely. Many new friends have come and gone by this time and change is the name of the game.

Reid Fulmer

Reid is 12 years old. He attends St. John Elementary in Gulfport, MS. Reid is the son of Wes and Debbie Fulmer. He has one brother, Tyler, who is 6 years old. Before the Storm (on the Sunday before Hurricane Katrina) Reid, his mother, and brother left for Jackson, MS to stay with his Grandparents. His dad stayed in Biloxi to ride out the storm. Their home is located on a lake off the Tchoutacabouffa River. Everyone living south of Interstate 10 was told to evacuate, so his dad secured the house as best he could and left for higher ground. He rode out the storm, along with many friends at a branch office of The Peoples’ Bank, where his father works. After the storm calmed down somewhat on late Monday, Wes (Reid’s Dad) tried to get to the house to check on the storm damage. He was unable to get there because the water was blocking the road to the house. He finally got to the house on Tuesday morning to find the house standing, but everything on the first floor was washed out.

"The yard and woods surrounding our house were filled with our storm debris (everything that was downstairs in the house was washed out), along with a lot of debris washed up from the river. We even had an extra boat in our yard, which was not ours," said Wes Fulmer.

Much of the exterior brick on the house was gone, so you could see through the house. Luckily, the roof held up, and the second floor was undamaged! After the Storm, the family found an apartment and moved there about two weeks after the storm. Reid and his brother stayed in Jackson, MS for 3 weeks after the storm until their school re-opened in late September. Their school had minimal damage and was one of the first schools to reopen. The family and the community continue to work on cleanup each weekend.

Robert “Leland” Wilson

Robert wanted to tell his story in his own words.

“I am in the 6th grade at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Biloxi, MS. I have always lived in Biloxi. My favorite sports are ice hockey and deep Sea fishing. I lost my home and most of my belongings due to Hurricane Katrina. I now live in a FEMA trailer with my parents Brian & Kim and three sisters – Rayana, Tiffani and Misty. I took last summer off from playing any hockey (Ice or roller) and was very excited about playing on ice this year. After Hurricane Katrina hit and destroyed the ice at the Coliseum where I play for the Gulf Coast Youth Hockey Association - Mississippi Jr. Sea Wolves. I was really upset and didn’t think I would get to play hockey for a long time. Then Baton Rouge Youth Hockey Assoc. – Baton Rouge King Fish invited me to come and play with them. It takes us about two hours to drive over for practice. But it’s been a lot of fun and I even made assistant captain of the team. I have lost a lot but I have gain even more. But most important I have my family! We are all safe. And I found out there are a lot of really great people all over the world that have come to help us get back on our feet.

“Thank you all.”