Hurricane Rita

Hurricane Rita hit the Louisiana/Texas Gulf Coast early on the morning of September 24, 2005. Cameron Parish was hit extremely hard by the storm. Francis Drilling Fluids, Ltd. sustained extensive damage to our offshore facility, not to mention our employees' lives that were directly affected by the storm. Throughout southwest Louisiana, FDF has approximately fifty-five employees that were impacted by the storm. Many of these lived in Cameron parish. We have employees that lost their homes, personal possessions, mementoes, etc. But by God's grace, we were spared any loss of life.

FDF is committed to helping rebuild these families' lives. We have found temporary and permanent housing for some that have lost everything. We received many donations of clothes that we have distributed and continue to distribute to our displaced families. We have relocated workers from our Cameron and Lake Charles, LA facilities to get these employees back to work and have some sense of normalcy. We have also set up the "FDF-Rita Relief Fund" that is accepting private donations to help us help these families. Moneys collected in this account will be distributed to individuals based on immediate needs. Each employee affected will be required to fill out an application for aid. Applications will be reviewed by the FDF-Rita Relief Fund Committee and decisions for distribution amounts will be made accordingly.

If you or your company would like to help us in this effort, please make all donations payable to the "FDF-Rita Relief Fund" c/o Hibernia National Bank, Attn: Kathy Desormeaux, P.O. Box 3847, Lafayette, LA 70501. Donations may also be deposited at any Hibernia branch using the account #2080757320.

Thank you for your generosity in this time of need.


FDF-Rita Relief Fund Committee