Lake Providence native Frededreia (DeDe) Willis Dunham has taken her expansive career into the literary world with a children’s book entitled “My First Hurricane.” The book is a guide to weathering a hurricane safely and contains useful information for what to do in a storm, all through the eyes of a child.
Dunham has made big moves since leaving Lake Providence. She got a gig on KNOE News as a reporter and then was appointed to serve as spokesperson for the Louisiana Workforce Center. Her sweet personality and striking smile were made for the camera, and her elegant way with words led her to her latest job, working as communications director for a non-profit started by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
At one point, Dunham’s career took her to South Louisiana where she got to see the devastation that occurs when hurricanes make landfall and cause disruptions to the infrastructure, as well as to the lives of the residents who live there, especially children.
“I met a little boy who told me about hearing the large garbage can flip over and the noise of the wind and rain scared him. I knew that writing a book for kids and parents and telling the story of ways to prepare as best as one can for these hurricanes can be a great source of data and can actually assist people,” said Dunham.
Despite having been a lifelong resident of Louisiana at that time, Dunham, having grown up in the northern part of the state, had never seen the destruction of power lines and other things that hurricanes typically bring down south.
She said that many people aren’t aware of the differences that exist between living in the northern part of the state versus the southern part. From the culture to the food, the music, and especially the need to be on high alert during hurricane season, the two halves of the state can be worlds apart.
Dunham says children miss time from school and go through so many emotions when their lives are interrupted during the active portion of hurricane season (typically between late August and October).
Dunham provides simple to follow instructional advice on generators, road closures, community supplies, sand bags, batteries and other items that can be critical to have when a hurricane strikes and there are power outages and other disruptions. However, these same items are not as easy to get immediately after the storm hits, said Dunham. Often the stores are closed due to the conditions; even the stores are not immune to the devastation of hurricanes.
Dunham also provides helpful information about emergency preparedness and safety mitigation planning. For example, boarding windows before an expected hurricane is a form of mitigating the damage to the building structure.
Dunham and husband, Stephon, who is a pilot in the military, relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where she put the pen on this book and decided this could be a series about Beau’s ongoing adventures in the big boot. Her mother, Alice, came to live with her, and shortly after was diagnosed with stage three cancer. Dunham’s top priority at that point was focusing on her mother. “Career, book, everything else had to take a back seat,” she said. She says her husband was right there every step of the way supporting her and her mom during this ordeal. Her mom lost her battle with cancer earlier this year.
Dunham says she thought about more time off, but then she realized that moving forward is a part of managing grief from losing a loved one. The book has been a success, and Willis returned to her hometown on Monday for a book signing event hosted by the East Carroll Parish Library.
Stay tuned for more of Beau’s Adventures in the future. Copies of the book can be found on Amazon by searching My First Hurricane (Adventurous Beau) by DeDe Dunham.
