'You can't really put yourself above anyone else'
Hospitality is second nature to many in Acadiana's food service industry.
That's why those who were able to feed displaced flood victims and emergency workers didn't think twice about doing it — even though some of them were experiencing flooding inside of their own homes.
Mark Alleman, who owns Hook & Boil in Broussard, served about 2,000 meals Saturday and Sunday. His own home in The Settlement neighborhood of Lafayette had just over an inch of water inside.
"There was nothing I could do at the time," Alleman said Sunday. "So we just went to the restaurant."
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Only three of his employees were able to make it to the restaurant, but they worked to prepare meals for flood victims and those working to help victims.
Locals with large vehicles volunteered to drive through flooded streets to deliver food, and a few people from a nearby neighborhood baked sweets to go with the meals.
"We've had just a huge, huge amount of appreciation from the individuals we've served," Allemen said.
"And we've experienced just hope and pride from people in the Acadiana area, not just from us dropping off, but from everybody working together. It's a really, really special community."
Employees of Bread & Circus Provisions in Lafayette spent Friday making pizza for flooding victims.
"We really didn't think too much of the rain Friday," said Rosalinda Augello, general manager of Bread & Circus. "We get rain all the time in south Louisiana."
By Saturday morning, however, Augello and her two roommates and co-workers required rescue by boat to escape from the rising water inside of their rental home off of Congress Street near Ambassador Caffery Parkway.
Background: Rare flooding event caused by 'monsoon depression'
Augello packed up her dog — a labradoodle named Luillanina — along with her dog's food and medicine, her own medicine, some clothes, her laptop and some money.
Her roommate and coworker Zoe Huval packed up her three cats — Zelphine, Tegan and Clifford — with her cats' belongings, her laptop and some of the rainproof camping gear she'd recently purchased for a trip to Nova Scotia.
"It was my necessities and work stuff and cats," Huval said. "That was really it."
Local firefighters rescued them and their third roommate and coworker, Gabe Lee, around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. They relocated to the home of Rosalinda Augello's brother, Manny Auguello, who co-owns Bread & Circus.
Just after being rescued, however, the trio went to the restaurant they consider their second home to help fulfill a catering order for a downtown wedding that was still happening despite the parish-wide curfew and rising flood waters.
"Yeah, we had to worry about how we are being affected personally," Huval said. "But we know that we are being taken care of. I get emotional just thinking about the fact that Manny Augello took us in. I didn't have to worry about being dry or being safe."
In a way, focusing on work Saturday helped them not dwell on what was happening inside of their home, they said.
"Everyone is in the situation we are in," Rosalinda Augello said. "You can't really put yourself above anyone else. We all have to be patient and support each other through it."
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Jay Thomas, who owns Zydeco Po'Boy & Daiquiri Company in River Ranch, served about 300 meals Sunday to those in need. He did so with the help of volunteers who reached out to him via Facebook.
"Everybody was just real thankful," Thomas said. "It was just red beans and rice, but they were all so thankful. And it was kind of sad. A couple of people who came in were crying."
Thomas Peters, who owns The Lab Handcrafted Coffees & Comforts in River Ranch, offered free coffee and hugs Sunday to anybody directly affected by the flood.
He plans to continue to do so for as long as the community needs.
"It's just something to offer to people who just need a little ray of hope," Peters said. "We're a huge community of people who are basically just one big family. If one person is affected, the whole community is affected."
Rare flooding event caused by 'monsoon depression'