Cheniere Energy’s liquefied natural gas facility in Cameron Parish.
Photographer: Virginia Hanusik for Bloomberg BusinessweekFeature
As Louisianans Flee Hurricanes, Natural Gas Dollars and Jobs Flood In
Roofless homes, floating coffins, and a massive, thriving port—a visit to an American boomtown.
If you drive far enough down through southwest Louisiana, past the petrochemical plants and the wide marsh to where the road ends at the Gulf of Mexico, you’ll find Cameron, a little town of oystermen and shrimping boats. It’s right near the Chocolate Milk Beach, which is what I called Holly Beach back when I was a kid and my dad would drive us there, 40 miles south from our home in Lake Charles, stopping for shrimp along the way. I didn’t know back then that the water’s Yoo-hoo color was caused by sediment dredged up so places like Lake Charles could have a shipway and an economic lifeline.