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# Taking heed for a sister in need
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/taking-heed-for-a-sister-in-need/
- Published: 2005-10-22T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T08:01:22.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*City Hall helps sister in need*

CITY YARDS — Trucks and equipment departed here on Friday bound for Santa Monica’s sister city devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

The 18 trucks and pieces of machinery headed for Bayou La Batre, Ala., were loaded up on five diesel transporters at the city yards and shipped off, a commitment Santa Monica made in the aftermath of Katrina to help its adopted city.

One week after the hurricane, City Manager Susan McCarthy asked the National Association of Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press Truck drivers Donald Landriault (middle) and James Miller direct the loading of a vehicle onto a truck bed bound for hurricane-ravaged Alabama on Friday.

Mayors to start a program in which cities could establish a partnership with those that were affected by the disaster. Within days, the mayor’s association informed City Hall it had started a program based on Santa Monica’s suggestion.

As a result, the mayor’s association asked Santa Monica City Hall to contact Bayou La Batre, a Gulf town with a population of 2,500, known as the seafood capital of Alabama. Its primary industry of oyster and shrimp fishing and processing was wiped out by the hurricane, according to city officials. Bayou La Batre was made famous by the Bubba Gump scenes in the movie “Forrest Gump.”

While City Hall soon created an inventory of materials it would be able to furnish affected areas — including computers, books and old office equipment — city officials soon learned what Bayou La Batre needed was more basic, but essential.

City Councilman Bob Holbrook, who has helped initiate the relief effort, said he sat in on the teleconference calls with Bayou La Batre’s city inspector, who told Santa Monica officials his entire community was decimated with more than 1,000 buildings destroyed.

The inspector said the citizens of his community were in desperate need of anything that would help them clear the rubble.

“I told them what we could do, and you could feel the emotion,” Holbrook said.

The City Council approved Santa Monica’s relief package on Oct. 11\. Using an Alabama-based transport company, City Hall is paying $16,500 to transport to its adopted city a total of six Ford F-150 pickup trucks, two trucks with large cranes attached, one utility truck with a small crane, one dump truck, a street cleaner, a riding lawnmower and six chainsaws.

In addition, Santa Monica officials will be discussing with Bayou La Batre officials ways they may be able to better reinstate essential infrastructure as the rebuilding process continues.

Holbrook said city services will not be affected by the loan. A third of the equipment was set to go on public auction in coming months anyway. The other two-thirds of the equipment was set to be rotated out of use within the next two years. Since much of the equipment is being rotated out early, City Hall anticipates replacing equipment sooner to make up for the loss.

Also, Bayou La Batre promises it also will come to Santa Monica’s aid should a natural disaster occur here, Holbrook said.

Holbrook said city staff and other people he’s talked to are glad City Hall has been able to contribute to the relief effort.

“Everyone is so happy to help get this town on its feet,” Holbrook said. “Every business and resident in Santa Monica ought to feel proud for helping this one little town recover.”

Santa Monica Fire Chief Jim Hone said 90,000 square miles were devastated by Katrina, in which 40,000 people were initially rescued. A total of 240,000 people are estimated to have been evacuated from the impacted areas, predicted to cost $125 billion to re-build, with 12 million cubic yards of debris needing to be removed.

The trucks are expected to arrive in Bayou La Batre by Tuesday, Oct. 25.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/102205-03_01.jpg)

Truck drivers Donald Landriault (middle) and James Miller direct the loading of a vehicle onto a truck bed bound for hurricane-ravaged Alabama on Friday. (Photo: Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 22, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102205.pdf?ref=smdp.com)