| Katrina
aftermath: Personal stories from ground zero | | |
| Like many middle-class residents
who have been devastated by the fury of Katrina, Pfalzgraf has found himself in
a financial ruin that he could have never imagined.
"For the first three days, I was in denial.
I was like 'I don't need assistance. I'm a business owner. I'm a homeowner. Why
would I need assistance?' Then the reality set in -- I was homeless, I was the
one needing assistance." John Champagne
Westbank resident John Champagne, 35, runs a small family-owned business that
supplies local companies with electronic equipment. When they evacuated for a
few days last year in anticipation of Hurricane Ivan, the business took a solid
hit -- but the Katrina hit could be the fatal blow. "We've
been shut down for almost two weeks, and now we're hearing it could be another
week and a half," he says. "At this point, we just don't know. I've
spoken to so many people, including family members, that just aren't coming back."
After spending five days in Texas, they moved to another hotel
in Jennings, La. They have contacted FEMA, but they won't assist in anything until
they find out what the homeowner's insurance is going to cover. While a tree has
crashed through their home, the lost business revenue and declining cash flow
is a top priority. "We've spent a good portion of what
we had in a savings account just for an emergency purpose. We spent almost all
of it just on the hotel rooms," he says. Tami
Nelson
Tami Nelson, 30, a resident of Uptown New Orleans, has temporarily
relocated to Austin, Texas, with the assistance of friends and family. She has
not been to her apartment since she left home two weeks ago and, like many others,
she has no idea when she may be able to return. Nelson was on the verge of getting
her real estate license but sees this as a major blow to her career. "Its
definitely set me back significantly. The work I did in New Orleans was an ongoing
process to get where I was, what I was going to be," she says. "I can
get into real estate here, but I'm going to have to start at the bottom again."
While Nelson has high hopes of landing a decent job in Austin, she expresses
concern about the expenses that she may incur in the coming weeks. Paying off
her credit card debt and what she anticipates to be a high cell phone bill is
the least of her concerns. Like many other young professionals who have fled the
city, her savings -- which traditionally would go to things like buying a first
home -- are being eaten away by the aftermath of Katrina. "I
anticipate having a little income in a couple weeks, but in the meantime, I'll
be plowing through the little that I had saved," she says. Sissy
Simoneaux
Sissy Simoneaux, 46, a medical staffing coordinator from
Jefferson Parish is among the thousands of displaced people uncertain about the
future. She is staying with relatives in San Antonio and assumes she has lost
her job. Getting in touch with anyone in the New Orleans area is a difficult task
-- even on cell phones, communications in the (504) area code have been unreliable
at best. Simoneaux is also waiting on a paycheck that was scheduled to be issued
Sept. 2. | 
