LULING, La. — There’s no power, no drinkable water, and spotty cell phone service in St. Charles Parish. But if you ask Eric DeSoto, the connections have never been stronger.
“There’s no ifs, ands, or buts, you tell me you need something, and I’m bringing it to you. So, people started messaging me, messaging other people in the neighborhood,” said DeSoto.
Desoto, or “ERock” as he’s known both around town and on TikTok, has spent the last week helping others.
We first introduced you to Desoto in November 2020, when he went viral on the app for teaching TikTokers about Cajun French and life in Southeast Louisiana. Famous for his opening line, “hey, coullion,” he quizzes his daughter, Ashlyn on Louisiana last names and town names.
He’s now amassed more than 300-thousand followers.
Those followers became a real-life lifeline when things got tough in Louisiana.
“My phone bings and I’ve got PayPal. Then my phone bings again and I’ve got a Venmo. And I told my wife, I was like, ‘people are sending me money,” he said.
Then, Desoto says, it clicked. By asking his followers for donations, he’d be able to directly help his neighbors in St. Charles Parish and beyond.
In the last 11 days, his followers have sent him more than 25-thousand dollars.
The Desoto family drove a uHaul full of supplies from Houston when the donations started rolling in.
Since then, Desoto tells us he’s handed out 100-dollar Home Depot gift cards to people in line, sent Venmo cash to people trying to buy oil for generators at the auto parts store, and even helped a woman in search of a car tire on a St. Charles Community Facebook group.
“And I was like, I’ve got one better for you. I messaged her, I said, when you find one, you let me know. I’m gonna Venmo you the money for your tire,” he said.
He’s been able to serve as a supply hub for his neighborhood and said he can’t count the number of generators he’s been able to buy for people in need.
In one recent post on TikTok, Desoto introduces “Mr. Guillory,” who he says, had no idea what TikTok was at first.
In the video, Desoto says, “He was having some generator troubles and his generator finally just crapped out.”
Behind him, Guillory says, “Yes, and the Lord came today and surprised me with a brand new generator, I’m lost for words. I can’t thank y’all coullion’s enough for what y’all done for me. It’s really bad out here.”
DeSoto is doing this even as his own home was destroyed in the storm. Wednesday, he and his wife Nicole spent the day saving what they could and moving everything else to the curb.
The back half of their roof blew off when Hurricane Ida bore down on St. Charles parish.
“This is where everything just got blown down,” Desoto said standing in his living room in Luling, where insulation hangs down from the torn ceiling. “It tore the back half of the roof off.”
He gets choked up when he sees what’s happened to his home, not knowing when they’ll be able to move back in.
“All I can think about is like, sofas… where we used to watch TV as a family. Beds, where it was supposed to be like your resting place,” he said.
Still, he says he feels lucky to be able to spread some Louisiana love, thanks to his following, which was built on Louisiana culture.
He choked back tears, “I keep asking myself… why me? But then, when I do help everybody else, and I can raise all the money and all this stuff, I realize it’s not why me… it’s like, why not me, right?
The harder question to answer, though, is when people ask why he chooses to stay here.
He can hardly get through the reply without the emotions creeping in. But for a family who came back to their badly damaged home, already tarped up and secured by friends, the answer has never been more obvious.
“Because it is Louisiana. Because my house is destroyed. And I know that every single person that I know would be doing the same thing I’m doing. I just happened to have TikTok. That’s the only difference,” he said.
“It’s just entirely too powerful. I don’t really want to leave.”
Desoto has teamed up with United Way St. Charles to coordinate bigger distributions, like several 18-wheelers of supplies that have contacted him to help.
If you’d like to donate to his cause directly, his PayPal is erock2020@yahoo.com. His venmo is @erock2020.