Jeff's Blog

Some more Pictures from Hurricane Rita

2005-12-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

The before and after pic is of Holly Beach. I went down there today and ran on the beach. It was late in the afternoon when I finished my run and was eaten alive by mosquitoes

How long will this be going on?

2005-12-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

My wife asks me, my sons ask me, my friends ask me; when am I coming home? Good question I say. I'm not sure myself. I have been on the road with SBA since October 1st. It's now December 11th. Time flies when your having fun. Am I? Some days it's hard to tell. Right now, this very moment, I would say no. I'm getting a little burnt out. It's been a long time away from my wife, my home, my friends, my and my two dogs. My two son James and Dustin are living in Phoenix, I do miss them but there live away from home. I would love to see everyone soon!

Elevation, this and luck kept this home in relatively good shape!

What keeps me going are the people I get to help. There are commercial fishermen (shrimpers, oyster's), alligator farmers, ranchers, beauty shops owners, office supply owners, lawyers, insurance salesmen and homeowners. The one thing they all are sharing is loss of some kind or another. Some have lost everything home, jobs, and personal belongings. Katrina helped motivate people to evacuate and spare a vast majority of the people in the Cameron area the unthinkable loss of loved ones or friends.

The strongest common thread these people share is hope, faith and in some cases a health dose of humor. One man Francis Guilbeau or Giz as the locals called him ran the local Office Supply store in Cameron. The whole thing was destroyed, nothing left but the slab. Through it all he maintained and great sense of humor. When helping him with his application I opted not to butcher his last name, which I have done to more than one cajun name. so asked. Well Giz's last name is pronounced "Gill bow".
After a ten minute lesson in Cajun names 101 Giz declared he would make a Coonass out of me yet! We both laughed and I asked what's a coonass? Giz laughed and replied that a less then nice reference for a cajun. All you Yankees reading this how would you pronounce Theriot? Give up? Terry"O"is how it would sound. Me I pronounced it phonetically, "The riot". Well that's it for now I'll check back in a couple of days.

2005-11-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

First night in New Orleans. This was the only restaurant open on Bourbon St. The food reflected the state of the area. Limited in scope, over priced and not meeting expectations. Sorry for the negativity, but the quarter was just getting on it's feet and not up to speed. I guess the question is when will that be. No time soon that's for sure. And what will New Orleans look like and feel like in the future. To your average tourist it will be what they want it to be to the locals it will never be the same.

2005-11-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

A sign of things to come as I drove into New Orleans.

Some of the first things I saw were military convoys, a
broken sign and the Super Dome.

Here I am at the Algiers DRC (New Orleans Landry High School) posing with Lynn. I helped him fill out a business loan for his 8 rental properties. In return he brought me some awesome red Jambalaya, sweet tea and a big bag of Mardi Gras beads.

Next night I invited some of my recent SBA friends for a Cajun feast complete with Mardi Gras beads and Sweet Tea.

2005-11-17T09:51:00.000-08:00

This caught my attention as it did most everyone. There was no apparent damage to the surround area. What had happened was the bricks fell from the top of the structure crushing the cars. This used to be a Range Rover and a Grand Prix. I not sure why they had not been moved yet.

I was staying in the French Quarter about two blocks from Bourbon St, one of the things that struck me was that for the most part downtown New Orleans did not look that damaged. It seems that most of the damage was inside the buildings. Every where you looked there there were piles of garbage and the smell to go with it. One night as walked back to my room after parking my car a large brown rat bounding along not looking where it was going ran in to my right foot as I stepped in mid stride. I'm not sure who was more surprised him or me?

I arrived in New Orleans about a week after the city was reopened. Naturally I had to check out Bourbon St., being that it was only about two blocks away from where I was staying. In the few nights I was there I saw the activity grow from a handful of bars and one or two restaurants with limited services. Every time I walked down Bourbon St. (heading to the base camp) there was more and more activity. Loud music pouring out of the bars. A lone hawker trying to get the thin and sporadic passerbyers to check out the single dancer in the bar. Every other club had a sign proclaiming dancers needed. It's funny the things people focus on. I hope the spirit driving Bourbon St. fuels the rest of New Orleans. Among all this new activity there was a large presence of Humvees, national guards men, and police. Soon the Humvee were joined by mounted police.

The people of New Orleans were gracious, grateful, humorous, stoic and some just hanging on by a thread. This one lady will live with me for the rest of my life. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she told me she has never lacked working during the last thirty years of her life. With no flood insurance, months away from retirement having lost her home, all her possessions shes unsure if the Parrish she worked in will have the means to bring her back to work or for that matter fund her retirement. As I wiped my eyes dry I quickly focused back on completing the application for a loan she feels she wont qualify, or be able to pay back. I did manage to pry a smile out of her after a couple of jokes and bad puns.

Thousands of people in Louisiana were dealt hands flush with loss, and devastation, but through it all they smiled joked and maintained a sense of dignity. One older Italian man and his Cajun girlfriend lost two homes a seafood business and a stock car race track he was just getting on its feet. He said with a smile "I was just starting to break even on the track, ya know I was loosing money on the place, and I was just figuring out the things I needed to do better". I hope he got his loan and gets his track running again.

2005-11-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some pics I took In Creole and Cameron LA. This where Rita hit the hardest.