CAMERON, La. - A decade after Hurricane Rita, Cameron Parish in coastal, southwest Louisiana still bears the scars of her wrath.
Vacant slabs, weed-choked lots and solitary stairs to nowhere permeate the landscape in the tiny town of Cameron. Residents travel 30 miles away for the nearest grocery store. Some people still live in campers.
Rita was one of the fiercest storms on record when it roared ashore near the Texas/Louisiana border on Sept. 24, 2005.
Coastal towns splintered in 120-mph winds and a storm surge reaching as high as 20 feet.
At another time, it would have been the worst hurricane of the year. But Rita's devastation was overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina.
At least 11 deaths in Texas and Louisiana were blamed on Rita, which caused more than $11 billion in damage.
