Here's a start. It will give those who are not familiar with the song an idea of what we are looking for. I transcribed this from several sound samples:

ON THE BANKS OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN (excerpt)
Pattie Bryan, Blake & Blake Music, BMI

There was a jewel of a city on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain
Till water rushed down upon her from a terrible hurricane.
By the name of a beautiful lady, on the wings of a demon it came,
Flooding that jewel of a city on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.
Mothers with babies were crying from hunger and thirst—what a shame!—
Trapped by a break in the …

[As performed by Norman Blake, Nancy Blake, and Tut Taylor on "Shacktown Road," Plectraphone Records, 2007.]