United Cajun Navy supports floods recovery efforts in Connersville

CONNERSVILLE, Ind. (WRTV) — The United Cajun Navy, a non-profit based in Louisiana, has been sending resources and literal truckloads of support to Connersville and the surrounding community since flooding began last week.

Jacob Rowley, United Cajun Navy’s Midwest Coordinator, has been leading volunteer efforts among locals in the community. Currently, their operation is being run out of the Connersville Baptist Temple.

The organization is collecting food, gathering cleanup supplies, packaging materials and giving away clothing to those in need.

Rowley says that they had plenty of help over the weekend, but the number of volunteers slowed down significantly once the work-week began.

“We’d like to encourage people to come out whenever they can. Areas like this really need the help and we’d love to see as many of you come in and assist this community as much as you can,” Rowley said.

His team took us to one of their areas of focus; Robinson’s Whitewater River Campground. The campground, which had more than 100 camper-trailers on-site when the flooding came in, was severely damaged, and nearly every camper-trailer was damaged or destroyed.

Some trailers were flipped over on their sides, on top of other structures or even totally crushed.

“I would compare this…it’s closer to tornado damage than flood damage because of the fact that the water here was moving quickly, not just standing. You can tell just by how twisted up everything is,” Rowley said.

Dwain Robinson, the longtime owner of the 40-acre campground, said he’d never seen this kind of devastation. But thanks to the efforts of the United Cajun Navy and other groups from the region, he believes the campground will be back on its feet sooner than expected.

“We’re telling everybody to give us a call one year from now. And I bet you ten-to-one, there’ll be campers that can come back,” Robinson said.

Rowley tells us United Cajun Navy uses its resources to purchase supplies from local companies and distributors; that way money is flowing back into the community.

The United Cajun Navy is accepting donations, financial support and volunteer hours. You can find out more information about how to give here: United Cajun Navy