Salvage the bones tells the story of the Batiste family in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi gulf coast endured hurricane Katrina. It also tells the story of what they were enduring before the storm. Extreme poverty, sexual abuse, routine violence and survival.                                 The first ten chapters trace the lead up to the hurricane and show the family making various preparations for the storm on their father's orders. However, no one is taking the impending storm as seriously as Claude. They aren't able to stockpile very much food; the materials they use to store water are repurposed bottles and the wood they use to board up the windows of the house are misshapen and leave gaps.