Johnson Bayou is a small unincorporated community located on the Creole Nature Trail along the Gulf Coast in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is named after Daniel Johnson, who came to the area ''circa'' 1790. The village is a barrier island spread across coastal chenieres which were formed by deltaic sedimentation by the shifting of the Mississippi River. This geologic formation, the coastal chenier

https://web.archive.org/web/20061012031343/http://www.wlf.state.la.us/pdfs/experience/Coastal%20Live%20Oak-Hackberry%20Forest.pdf], is found only in a few locations across the globe. The population of the community was approximately 400 before Hurricanes Laura and Delta devastated the community in August and October of 2020. By September of 2021 the population had recovered to almost 300. Johnson Bayou is part of the Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area. Johnson Bayou road sign

History

On October 12, 1886, Johnson Bayou was completely destroyed by the "great storm of 1886;" a

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

of between seven and twelve feet that swept inland at Johnson Bayou, killing between 50 and 100 people. Between Sabine Pass and Beaumont, thirty miles of track of the Sabine and East Texas Railway, were damaged badly and partly washed away. Johnson Bayou was hit again by Hurricane Audrey in 1957, and yet again by

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...

on September 24, 2005. On September 13, 2007,

Hurricane Humberto The name Humberto has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. The name replaced Hugo, which was retired after the 1989 season. * Hurricane Humberto (1995) – reached Category 2 Strength but remained in open sea. * Hur ...

made landfall west of Johnson Bayou at High Island, Texas, bringing heavy rains to the community. On September 13, 2008,

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

made landfall on the upper Texas coast, causing extensive damage to the region (NOAA). In 2020, Johnson Bayou was struck by two hurricanes: Hurricane Laura on August 27, 2020 and Hurricane Delta on October 6, 2020.

Geography

Location: 29.7613323 -93.6584918 (29°45'40"N 93°39'30"W). Elevation: 5 to 7 feet (2 m). Johnson Bayou is located a barrier island on

Louisiana Highway 82 Louisiana Highway 82 (LA 82) is a state highway located in southern Louisiana. It runs in a general east–west direction from the Texas state line east of Port Arthur to the Vermilion–Lafayette parish line southwest of Youngsville. Th ...

, west of

Holly Beach Holly Beach (french: Plage-d'Houx), also known as the "Cajun Riviera" (french: La Rivière Acadienne), is a coastal community in unincorporated community Cameron Parish, Louisiana, United States. Known for crabbing and a drive on the beach, this ...

, and southeast, across the Sabine Pass

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

, of

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United Sta ...

Culture

The Holleyman Bird Sanctuary/ Peveto Woods Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary is located in the community, and is south of the

Sabine National Wildlife Refuge Sabine National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in Cameron Parish in southwestern Louisiana. It is on Louisiana State Route 27, south of Hackberry and north of Holly Beach. The western boundary of the ...

. Johnson Bayou is home to four natural gas pipelines, and the home of one of the largest

LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

Terminals in the world. This LNG regasification terminal is being built by Cheniere Energy. https://web.archive.org/web/20071215224830/http://www.cheniere.com/default.shtml

Education

Cameron Parish School Board operates Johnson Bayou High School, a combined primary and secondary school serving the area.

Cameron Parish Public Library Cameron Parish (french: Paroisse de Cameron) is a parish in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,617. The parish seat is Cameron. Although it is the largest parish by area in Loui ...

operated the Johnson Branch at 4586 Gulf Beach Highway in the area until the Mandatory Evacuation for Hurricane Laura in August on 2020. Currently the library expects to reopen in January of 2022. Louisiana Library Directory
" '' State Library of Louisiana''. Accessed September 22, 2008.

Gallery

File:JohnsonsBayou1886Leslies.jpg, Destruction from the Great October Hurricane of 1886 Image:ALL.HM_050.JPG, The beach between Johnson Bayou and Holly Beach prior to Hurricane Rita in 2005 Image:House in Johnson Bayou, Louisiana destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.jpg, A house in Johnson Bayou destroyed by Hurricane Rita Image:Hurricane Ike Johnson Bayou LA damage.jpg, Hurricane Ike damage to main store and buildings Image:Hurricane Ike Johnson Bayou LA school entrance.jpg, Hurricane Ike damage to school building Image:Hurricane Ike Johnson Bayou LA school classroom damage.jpg, School suffered severe damage inside building due to Hurricane Ike Image:Hurricane Ike Johnson Bayou LA church and buildings.jpg, Church and buildings damaged by Hurricane Ike Image:Hurricane Ike Johnson Bayou LA brick and dbl-wide houses.jpg, Brick house completely destroyed with nearby double wide house severely damaged from Hurricane Ike

References