Forever Storm Testimonies: Transcript from "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown"
The following is an excerpt from a transcript of the fourth episode of the seventh season of the CNN television show "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown." The name of the episode is "Graceland, USA." In the episode, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain visits Sabine Pass.
Graceland, USA. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired May 15, 2016 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:00:16] ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST: Before 2010, this small town in south Texas, now a household name all across America, wasn't a town at all. It was a suburb of the much larger Port Arthur, just a few miles north. Today, though, you'd be hard pressed to find an American who doesn't know the name Sabine Pass.
This now booming town lays literally in the heart of what most people know as the "Gracelands." But this isn't Elvis' house. No, this is the eye of the longest hurricane in recorded human history. It's been raging over southern Texas and Louisiana for the last six straight years without once drifting away or weakening. While most of the towns underneath the hammering 150 mile-an-hour winds have been stripped away, their populations scattered, and their memories destroyed, the town under the eye of the storm has bloomed.
FRED CHISHOLM, SABINE RESIDENT: Yessir, get a look in there.
BOURDAIN: Right now, long-time Sabine Pass resident Fred Chisholm is slow-smoking a brisket in the same house his family has lived in for six decades. The rest of the region around him may as well have been nuked.
BOURDAIN: So, tell me what your process is. I know everyone's got their own brisket, their own style.
F. CHISHOLM: Yessir, I use the same recipe my daddy used and my grandaddy used. This darling's been smoking for the last... eleven and a half hours. She's almost done.
BOURDAIN: How do you know?
F. CHISHOLM: Mm. I couldn't tell you. It's something you just feel at a certain point. Been watching my daddy do this so long I know when it's done, when it ain't. I say she needs fifteen more.
BOURDAIN: Fred and his family were spared from the apocalyptic storm that made landfall in 2010. While most people in nearby Port Arthur fled their homes and haven't been able to return ever since, the Chisholms and the people like them in Sabine have been having cookouts, walking their dogs, going to school, gardening. All of the things you would expect from a typical American suburb.
F. CHISHOLM: Okay, alright. Yeah. Yeah. Lisa, give me a hand. Yeah, that's it. Alright.
BOURDAIN: Looks incredible. You're barely putting any force into the knife and it's just sliding off.
F. CHISHOLM: That's how you know it's done. (LAUGHS)
LISA CHISHOLM: Alright. Mr. Bourdain, do you mind if we pray before we start eating?
BOURDAIN: Oh, feel free. Please.
L. CHISHOLM: Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the food that we are about to eat, for our lives, for our friends, for our family, for our prosperity, for our home, health, and wealth. Amen.
FAMILY (IN UNISON): Amen.
BOURDAIN: So, tell me, I imagine your life has changed quite a bit since 2010.
F. CHISHOLM: Oh yeah. Yeah. It's not been easy. No. I mean, you know, the sky ain't clear except for... maybe a few hours in a few days every month or so. That'll... that'll mess with your head.
BOURDAIN: Right. And, all your neighboring... towns, you know, they're (INAUDIBLE).
F. CHISHOLM: Oh yeah, yeah, I had family in Beaumont. Breaks your heart. It does. It does.
BOURDAIN: Forgive my asking, but did they, uh, did they get out?
F. CHISHOLM: Uh, huh, yeah. No, they, uh. They didn't.
L. CHISHOLM: This storm has taken everything from the people around us. It did. There's no way to know why we were spared and why everyone else weren't. All we can do is pray.
F. CHISHOLM: And eat. Eating helps.
BOURDAIN: Today, the Chisholms have made a feast. Slow-smoked brisket with a rich homemade barbecue sauce, coleslaw, mac and cheese, thick-cut jalapeño bread, refried beans, and even a chocolate pie for dessert.
All of this is standard fair at any Texan table, but the particular regional style that the Chisholms cook with, south Texan barbecue, is nearly extinct.
BOURDAIN: Oh, my God. So good. This is so good. It's like it never even saw a bone. It's melting before it even gets to my mouth. This is incredible.
[21:15:04] BOURDAIN: After lunch, Fred and Lisa take me on a tour through Sabine Pass.
Despite being safe from the roaring winds of the eyewall completely surrounding the town, you can still see some of the scars from the hurricane's initial impact on the town, and scars from hurricanes past. High water marks from Hurricane Ike in 2008 painted onto the sides of buildings in the town center. The Methodist church still being reconstructed, ripped in half as the northern section of Hurricane Grace passed over the town. But the most pressing concern for the people of this town is the same reason why Sabine Pass exists at all: the water.
L. CHISHOLM: You can see, there, that's the old rig out by what used to be the boat ramp. What you're seeing there is just the top half of it. Most of it is underneath the river.
BOURDAIN: For six years, the Sabine River, from which the town gets its name, its foundation, and its lifeblood, has been rising. As Hurricane Grace continues to dump ten inches of water on the surrounding coastline every week, the Sabine has been steadily rising. Coupled with the initial storm surge, and this small town has a problem.
F. CHISHOLM: Yeah, Sabine Pass used to stretch pretty far south. All the way to the coast. The storm surge took it. Washed away all the refineries down there. They're still under water, the water never receded, it never went down. Never.
BOURDAIN: Does that worry you? Are you thinking, you know, maybe Sabine Pass will end up like that?
L. CHISHOLM: Oh, sure. But it hasn't yet. Thank God.
F. CHISHOLM: These days, I'm thankful for the Arkies. Yeah. I think they're helping us.
BOURDAIN: Woah, woah. The Arkies? Who're the Arkies?
F. CHISHOLM: The Church of Eternal Grace of the New Ark, or something along those lines, they're Baptists who started worshipping the storm. Yeah. Uh...
L. CHISHOLM: I still don't like them all that much. But that's me.
BOURDAIN: Do you know any Arkies? In town?
F. CHISHOLM: Oh, they stay outta town mostly. They live across the river in the old lighthouse. I can take you out there.
F. CHISHOLM: Oh, sure. Yeah. You wanna go now?
BOURDAIN: W-Well, yeah. Let's, let's go. Yeah. (LAUGHS)
BOURDAIN: Fred takes us to a small motorboat he has at the "new" boat ramp, a few feet further inland from the old one. We take off into the Sabine River, going downstream.
BOURDAIN: (YELLING) You can see the eye wall across the river in Louisiana. There. A wall of black clouds. Eerie. Really, really eerie.
BOURDAIN: After about ten minutes, we reach an old brick lighthouse on the coast. There's a flag I've never seen before flying over it. Naturally, I ask Fred.
F. CHISHOLM: That's the Arkie flag. Yeah. It's a cross and a little cyclone.
BOURDAIN: They've got a hurricane on their flag. Isn't that nuts?
F. CHISHOLM: There you go, you got it. Big step. Don't fall in. I'm gonna introduce you to some folks, alright?
BOURDAIN: Yeah, please. Please.
BOURDAIN: This is like nothing I've ever seen. I'm completely mystified. There are shacks built in a circle around the lighthouse, each with the same blue and white flag on it. There's an incredible amount of diversity in the population here, too. Fred takes us towards the lighthouse, saying hello to people along the way.
F. CHISHOLM: The people around here, you know, they're odd. For sure. But they're pleasant. They've never been a problem for me.
BOURDAIN: You don't see this as... as against your religion?
F. CHISHOLM: Eh. I never really been to religious. I just try to make it through. It helps some folks, like Lisa. But me, I'm just.
BOURDAIN: Just gettin' by.
F. CHISHOLM: (LAUGHS) Exactly. Yeah. But, hey, if it helps you... I'm happy for you. You know? Hey, hey, Reverend.
REVEREND: Hi, Tony. I'm Abe.
BOURDAIN: This is Reverend Abe Dickie. While he looks like any other southern Baptist preacher, he has a very interesting twist on the usual faith.
BOURDAIN: So, I heard that the people here worship... the...
REVEREND: No. No. We don't worship the hurricane. (LAUGHS)
BOURDAIN: Yeah. So what is it, then? 'Cause I see a lot of... uh, hurricanes. Cyclones on the flags and stuff, painted on walls.
REVEREND: Yes. While we don't worship the hurricane, as we know that to be blasphemous and against the word of God, we do acknowledge that this storm isn't normal. It's not. It's a message from above. No scientists know why it hasn't moved on.
REVEREND: Well, yes, sir. It's a punishment on this country sent by God. The Eternal Grace Church of the New Ark provides people an opportunity to understand the makings of the Lord and why this is happening. In turn, we get called storm-worshippers and freaks and... and idolaters. All the things you expect. But we're Christians.
BOURDAIN: I gotta tell you, Reverend, this is... this is really fascinating to me. From an... anthropological perspective, I guess. I can't really wrap my head around it.
REVEREND: Well, then, would you like to sit in on a sermon?
BOURDAIN: How could I say no? (LAUGHS)
BOURDAIN: This is, by far, one of the strangest experiences of my life. The Reverend climbs the stairs inside the lighthouse and tells us to wait outside. Gradually, people leave their activities, their homes, their gardens, and gather in front of the lighthouse. Then, the lighthouse turns on, and the sermon begins.
REVEREND: (YELLING) In the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior! We offer our thanks unto you and pray for your forgiveness, your mercy, and your grace. Thanks be to God, who keeps us safe from the raging storm all around us. While the chaos of the storm reigns strong over this land, we have seen the light of the Lord and are saved by his hand. Thanks be to God.
CROWD (IN UNISON): Thanks be to God.
BOURDAIN: The sermon is short. But it's fiery, passionate, and clearly getting the crowd fired up.
REVEREND: Only through the power of God could the land be torn from itself, could the waves of the sea crash upon the earth, could the skies tear and darken and the ocean be whipped into cold fire. Only by the power of God! He has chosen in his infinite wisdom to protect this place and its children, and we thank him. Thanks be to God!
BOURDAIN: It's a classic mixture of Old Testament wrath with New Testament love. It seems to work on this crowd, but I feel conflicted.
Transcript taken from CNN.
