Hurricane Katrina (2005)

Former Louisiana state senator Nick Gautreaux put out a plea across local television and radio for "Anybody [who] wants to go help the people of New Orleans please come to the Acadiana Mall." Between 350 and 400 boats and people showed up. This makeshift flotilla that became known as the Cajun Navy is credited with rescuing more than 10,000 people from flooded homes and rooftops.^[7]

South-central Louisiana flood (2016)

In 2016, major flooding struck south-central Louisiana, resulting in even more attention for the informal rescue organization. "[M]akeshift flotillas popped up across the region over the weekend," observed USA Today during the disaster. "Many are operating under a name familiar in Louisiana: the Cajun Navy."^[8] Fortune magazine noted, "In the midst of one of the most severe (yet least-reported) natural disasters in recent history, a homegrown volunteer rescue squad known as the Cajun Navy is providing badly needed relief in flood-ravaged Louisiana."^[2]

The Baton Rouge Advocate summed up the feelings of many when it wrote: "The heroes hailed from the Cajun Navy, the nickname for an impromptu flotilla of volunteers who had no admiral, no uniforms, no military medals awaiting them for acts of valor. It was conscience, not a commanding officer, that summoned them into treacherous currents to carry endangered citizens to higher ground."^[9] The following year, one rescuer recalled ferrying as many as seven people at a time out of flooded Baton Rouge neighborhoods in his 16-foot boat.^[10]

Technology was first introduced by one of the boaters in 2016 and played a critical role during the Cajun Navy rescues. At first, people would show up and put their boats in the water without any direction. There was little organization and no way to define which areas had been rescued and which were still in need. One volunteer realized that a couple of mobile phone applications that he used for a game, Zello and Glympse, would be helpful in organizing the rescue attempts. He organized his teammates in the game to come teach boaters and other volunteers how to use the apps for the needed rescues. Eventually, the boaters would be directed by a core group of volunteers who would take requests to be rescued from the Cajun Navy Facebook group page.^[11]

One volunteer started to gather requests into a Google spreadsheet which was accessible to other volunteers. They vetted the requests by calling phone numbers provided in the posts to the Facebook group page or using Facebook Messenger, then the volunteers used the Zello application to dispatch a nearby boater.^[12] Technology was essential to the success of the Cajun Navy.^[13] An unknown number of volunteers manned Facebook, using Glympse and Zello to link rescuers with those asking for assistance.

Hurricane Harvey (2017)

In August 2017, the Cajun Navy engaged in rescue operations in response to the major flooding of Southeast Texas by Hurricane Harvey. The Chicago Tribune referred to them "roar[ing] into Pasadena, Texas...in high-clearance pickup trucks with bass boats and pirogues like the Cajun Cavalry, ready to help search and rescue efforts alongside first responders who were inundated with thousands of calls across the region".^[14]

Cajun Navy groups formed in the year following the Louisiana flooding performed more than 5,000 rescues in Southeast Texas, throughout cities and towns including Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Vidor.^{[15][16][17][18][19]} Multiple teams acted behind the scenes using social media to organize hundreds of citizens. Volunteers acted as citizen dispatchers, relaying requests for rescue from the Cajun Navy Facebook page to those boaters who could perform the rescue via Zello.^[20][21]

In recognition of the help the Cajun Navy provided, the Houston Thanksgiving Day Parade included a float featuring many of the Cajun Navy members who performed rescues in the flood waters.^[22]

Hurricane Irma (2017)

In cooperation with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, the Cajun Navy agreed to participate in relief efforts for storm surge victims of Hurricane Irma within central and southern Florida, in September 2017.^[23]

Hidalgo County flood (2018)

The Cajun Navy assisted victims of flooding in Hidalgo County, Texas.^[24]

Hurricane Florence (2018)

In September 2018 the Cajun Navy was activated and sent to New Bern, North Carolina to assist with rescues in the wake of major flooding from Hurricane Florence.^[25] They rescued 160 people, many from the tops of their cars and some using air mattresses because the winds were severe enough to topple boats,^[26] until local emergency management told them their help was no longer needed because all rescues could be handled by local first responders.^[27]

Tropical Storm Gordon (2018)

Also in September 2018, Cajun Navy members were mobilized in anticipation of possible flooding in New Orleans generated by Tropical Storm Gordon.^[28]

Hurricane Laura (2020)

Early on August 27, Hurricane Laura made landfall near peak intensity on Cameron, Louisiana. Laura was the tenth-strongest U.S. hurricane landfall by windspeed on record. The United Cajun Navy worked with United Way of Southwest Louisiana^[29] to provide supplies and relief efforts in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Hurricane Sally (2020)

United Cajun Navy responded^[30] to Hurricane Sally providing supplies for Pensacola Florida residents as well as Orange Beach Alabama.^[31] Hurricane Sally was a destructive Atlantic hurricane which became the first hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Alabama since Ivan in 2004, coincidentally on the same date. The Cajun Navy ended up teaming with Lowes in Pensacola, Florida to cook for residents who had no power (the first hot meal some of them had had in days).