Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, a social worker here in Madison, WI started an unprecedented effort to help. She got a local landlord to offer twenty apartments on Allied Drive - Madison's poorest neighborhood - and more than 200 volunteers to paint and clean them, and dozens of businesses to donate goods. She and four others went to Houston and came back with thirteen people.
I had the privilege to interview five of them for Madison Magazine. I would like to offer their stories here, in their own words. What follows are verbatim transcripts from taped interviews, interjected only with notations as to my questions.
A couple choice quotes in the way of teasers:
I can't describe what it took out of me. It's just going to take time. As I go forward, every now and then, I feel my soul crying out. It just hurts.
I went to the Superdome. It turned out to be a nightmare there. It was worse than what they say. You had to see it to believe it. It was unbelievable. It was terrible. It was a nightmare.
Full stories - including the social worker's frustrating ordeal dealing with FEMA - after the flip.
Rita, the social worker:
I just couldn't watch the TV anymore. I couldn't just sit back and be powerless, feel like I wasn't helping people.
Originally, when I started making phone calls, it was a waiting game. I did try. I did make phone calls to see how I could get involved to help. And I just couldn't wait. I knew it. I was watching TV and I thought, 'this is crazy. I can't wait to be called back in a week. People are going to die by the time I get called back.' That's when it became a personal thing.
I just decided to go on vacation and do something. I knew if I went to the media, I'd get the volunteers I needed to put the apartments together. It was just like massive amounts of people and items that came in. People in Madison, businesses and individuals gave. Alliant Energy paid for our flights and the bus. Many Madison businesses have gotten involved. There's been an outpour of unbelievable giving.
We got into the Astrodome at about 5 in the evening. We were not allowed in the Astrodome. Different people are coming in that aren't ... the whole criminal element comes in there ready to take advantage of people.
There were many buses that went that didn't get anybody. We were very lucky. Actually, no, it wasn't just luck. We had someone on the ground there helping us, which really helped a lot. We went walking in totally in the dark. And we lied. We did what we had to do. We were determined not to come back with an empty bus.
First we had to argue a lot. A lot. And drag the bigwigs down. That didn't work, so then we said we were volunteers. I said I was serving food.
It's really subhuman conditions inside the Astrodome. It really is. People should not be having to live like that. I think it's a way to keep the public out, also.
I never saw anyone get raped or murdered. I never saw anything like that. But I did see, it was at least an hour wait to go to the bathroom. In the bathrooms there are no doors; in the showers there are no doors. It's a gym. It's a men's gym. There's no privacy. The lights are never turned off. They can't keep you in the dark because of what might happen. The lights are bright like on a basketball court. There's no sense of night or day. There's no windows. There's no clocks. Were people allowed to go outside? Yes, but you don't want to leave your things. Someone might take your things. All you have is around your cot.
They also don't separate the men from the children.
I saw a lot of children on dirty floors. I saw a lot of crying, a lot of sickness, a lot of gambling on the beds. Some people just trying to sleep. I saw a lot of wheelchairs. I saw a lot of people sick, just lying on cots. It was filthy.
Did you find a lot of people eager to leave? Well, yes and no. Of course no one wants to be in the Astrodome, but they're afraid to leave. They're getting mixed messages about benefits and things. [They heard that] if they leave there, they might lose benefits or might not be eligible for certain things. So they're afraid to leave. Plus, I'm just a strange lady walking up to you saying, 'Come with me to Oz.' They don't know where Madison, Wisconsin is. There's a whole trust thing. This lady, she could be anybody. She could be taking me to a slavery camp. It's very hard to trust a stranger with your children. They're just there, and they're scared, and they're not getting good information at all. There are no TVs playing. They don't see CNN and what's really going on. There's newspapers around, but it's really hard to capture what's really back at home unless you're seeing what we're seeing.
We got into the Astrodome at about 5 in the evening. We stayed there until it got dark. We felt unsafe being there when it got dark. So we left around 8 or 9, and then we went back in the morning very early. We were going to leave at noon. We found a busload to come, but the Thursday morning we went back was the same day FEMA was going to give out Red Cross cards or whatever they were. They could get up to $2,000. They were told this, anyway. People came in from all over. Not just the Astrodome. People drove in to get their cards. Thousands of people. I don't even know how many. They were in these long lines on the cement parking lot. It was like a hundred degrees. It was very hot. After a couple of hours, they stopped giving out cards. People were very angry. They were expecting riots. They locked it down. We were locked inside. People that had been in the Astrodome couldn't get back in to get their things. If they were in there, they couldn't get out to get to us. People were afraid to get out of line, for fear that they'd change their minds and start giving cards out again.
Why did they stop giving out cards? I don't know. I don't know. There was so much government confusion.
People stayed in line for six hours in a hundred degrees. Even after they told them they weren't going to get their cards. They were afraid to move. It was the only thing they were going to get so far. They were afraid they'd start giving them out again, and they'd be out of place in line. The lines were massive. Those were some of the people who were supposed to come with us. They were afraid to leave. They were being told, 'If you go with them, you won't get your card.' Which wasn't true. It was rumors going around. A lot of volunteer staff were saying those kinds of things. They didn't really know.
It's all just crazy. It's all crazy. It was so hard for us to leave them. Because we knew [the rumors weren't true]. But we couldn't convince them, 'it's ok. Just get on the bus, don't worry about the cards.'And then when it got so crazy, we did stay an hour and twenty minutes longer than what we were supposed to. But then we had to get out of there.
They did not expect the thousands of people. We were three blocks from the Astrodome. We had to take a cab, because we had to take supplies with us. The bus was supposed to be in the parking lot to meet us. It took us forty-five minutes to go two and a half blocks in a cab to get in the gates. That's how bad the traffic was in the morning from people just trying to come in and get those cards. They saw me in a cab with a clipboard and they were honking at me, asking, 'Where do we go to get the cards?' They thought I was some official because I was in a cab with a clipboard in my hand. It was really crazy.
I think at some point once they relax, and have time to really think about this experience and really feel it, is when we'll have some issues, some personal issues that we'll be dealing with. Right now they're being kept so busy that they don't have time to feel or think about it. They feel really good right now. They're really happy.
I think it's a huge issue of poverty. I don't think the disaster itself is an issue of poverty. But I do believe that a large proportion of people weren't able get out because they had no means to get out. The people who did get out had the means to get out - cars or other ways that they were able to get out of the area. I don't think everyone who stayed was in poverty, but I do think the majority were.
There have been national comments that are in my opinion unacceptable. This is one way to clean up certain neighborhoods, or maybe now they'll be in a better place. Things like (Barbara Bush's comment) are really hard to hear, that our president's mother would even think that. People have to realize that on an individual basis, these are people who lost everything. I was thinking about it like, if we had a tornado in Madison and I lost everything, it would truly be a tragedy for me. I can't even imagine. But I would be able to get the help I need right then and there from my neighbors. They would help me. I know that. I would be able to rebuild, and there would be dry ground here for me. I could go to a hotel or a shelter or safe places with friends or family that didn't get affected. I'd have all those options available to me. But if I was in New Orleans, all that would be wiped out for me. It was all wiped out immediately. There's no friends to go to, no family to go to, no dry ground to go to, no way to rebuild, no way to board your window up. Nothing. You just can't do anything. You've lost everything, like it dropped off into the sea. That part is hard for me to imagine.
Did you go looking for job opportunities for evacuees, or did they come to you? "They came to us." Are people going to complain about newcomers getting jobs that could have gone to locals? We're talking about ten people. It's not going to change the whole makeup of what's happening in the city. But any information on jobs that we get after the evacuees have decided on their jobs, we definitely are going to share with residents in the Allied neighborhood. The same with the donations. Not the funds, but the things. After everyone has the things that they need, we're sharing with the neighborhood for those that need also.
Does it take a crisis to spur giving? Well, you know, it always has. I don't think that's unique to Madison. I think that's unique to humans, to how we function. Things that we see that affect us, that bother us, we react to, just like I did. I did the same thing when I was affected by what I saw on TV. [Allied Drive] is a pocket that isn't always visible to the entire city. Usually what you hear about Allied is negative. Police contact and crime. You don't really get a lot of stories about people's survival in poverty and nice families and how they're not making it and how they can't feed their kids. You're not getting those kind of stories.
Are the Allied Drive residents helping? Oh, yes, incredibly. Just incredibly. I couldn't believe it.
I really understand in a sense their perspective, what they were feeling in the beginning. If I don't have any beds in my house - and some families don't - and I don't have food in my house, and the outpouring of giving was unbelievable, and they're all watching it and they don't have food in their house, I can see how that would bring up a lot of emotions and a lot of bad feelings and wondering, 'How come not me?' That makes sense to me. I'm feeling really good, though, now, that many people get that now. They've talked to me about that. We now have this movement or this coalition to look at this and address it, to take care of people that need taking care of, to keep it going. That's the plan.
Darryl, 28, Air conditioner installer. Had been in New Orleans six months.
I didn't have the money to evacuate, so I had to sit through the flood. After the flood, they evacuated us to the Reliant Center.
I had to deal with the situation in the flood and everything. They came and rescued us on boats. I was on the roof for like five hours. Boats came, but we had to flag them down, let them know we were stuck out there. From there they took us to the dome. That was major chaos. When the storm hit there it ripped the roof off. There was a lot of frustrated people running around raping, fighting, so the Army came down. From there they started escorting us to the Reliant Center in Houston. He was in the Superdome for seven days.
So we ended up in the Reliant Center, pacing, worrying. On the bulletin board they were posting a lot of things, you know, and we met Rita. She told us about the situation, about what was going on, that she was going to help us get back on our feet, start a new life. A lot of us guys was worried, but I lost everything. So that's what we needed. We were still worried, but we looked at it as an opportunity. So we took that opportunity, and here we are. Everything came to pass. She changed our lives.
Madison is a wonderful city. Wonderful city. The hospitality, the love, the opportunities.
Some of the jobs done came at us, to where we're kind of wondering which to choose. That's a good thing. Everything came to pass. That relieved us. A lot of us feel, you know, sad, and it took a while to get over that. But we're looking at this opportunity and it's great.
I got family that wasn't in New Orleans, but that's around. They gave us cell phones so I was able to get in touch with my family and tell them I'm all right. They were very relieved. My grandmother, she was crying. My sisters and brothers, they was crying.
My grandmamma, she was in New Orleans, but she ended up leaving and moving down to Atlanta with some friends from church. She told me to make the right choice for me. This is the choice I made.
Apartments were full of clothes, TVs, VCRs, couches, food in the fridgerator, beds, lamps, kitchens, everything.
More families is coming. Everybody had their doubts on things. Once they see that we came up here and everything came to pass, more families down there are starting to believe that this is a chance that they need from our experience. So yes, more families are coming, definitely.
What would you say to the people who put this effort together in Madison? Thank you. Words can't really express, you know. But I can take this opportunity to say thank you. My heart goes out to Rita, Jenny, her whole staff, the volunteers, the businesses that donated.
Yesterday, I had an appointment to see my doctor. He called me back yesterday and gave me a job opportunity.
Are you going to take that job? Yes sir! That's what I do. Yes sir, that's about the only job I was looking for. That's what I love to do.
I told the doctor that I like to exercise. He got me a membership to a gym for three months.
John, 44, laborer. Had been in New Orleans four months.
I intended to relocate there.
I like it here. I like it here. I'm planning on staying. I like it.
I never been in a hurricane before. I was reluctant to leave, to evacuate. I hung out. I wanted to see what it was like. Bad mistake.
Luckily for me, they had I guess groups of - whoever they were - making people evacuate. I don't know if they were the police or National Guard or whoever. There were groups of men clearing the streets, saying, 'Hey, you got to get to the Superdome. There's going to be like ten feet of water here.' So I said, 'OK.' I went to the Superdome. It turned out to be a nightmare there. It was worse than what they say. You had to see it to believe it. It was unbelievable. It was terrible. It was a nightmare. I was glad when the busses finally came. He was in the Superdome for five days.
They were giving us two K-rations a day, and a bottle of water with each meal. You ended up being dehydrated because it was so hot, you'd sweat so bad you looked like you got out of a swimming pool. You were soaking wet. They weren't giving us a lot of water. Once in a blue moon they'd bring a little shipment of water, and the water shipment would get attacked by the people. They were desperate for water. Everyone was dehydrated, and they were afraid if they didn't get it, they'd miss out on it because there were so many people there. I don't know how many. Personally, I think it was about fifty thousand. It was packed. So when they'd bring a golf cart full of water on that rare occasion, you had hordes of people rushing that cart trying to grab it.
Houston was much better. The people had compassion and kindness. It was overcrowded. There were a lot of people there. They had us in different sections. Some were in the Astrodome. I was in the Reliant Arena.
They were coming around with pamphlets. There was one for Denver, they were offering to send people on cruise ships, then this one came along and this one sounded pretty good.
I knew Madison existed. A little humor there. But I didn't know anything about it. I figure it was worth a try. It was a definite step up from where I was, so I figured I'd give it a shot. And I'm glad I did.
[The apartments were] fully furnished. Food, appliances, TV, bed, spare light bulbs, everything. Tissue, you name it, it was in there. So many volunteers.
What do you like about Madison? Everything. I like the location. I like how the city's set up.
I'm pretty busy still trying to get settled in. Every day I'm just doing little errands, trying to get on my feet. I have to do little errands, have to go here, have to go there. Today I'm trying to get to the DMV if I can. I don't know if I'll be able to today. But I have to get my Wisconsin ID. Right now I'm trying to get what little odds and ends I don't have in my apartment. Little things, like a plunger, throw rugs for the bathroom. You know, things.
Any leads on jobs? They have some. I haven't gotten around to checking them yet. I checked one, it was doing engine repair work on recreational vehicles, and that's not my cup of tea. I passed that one. But they had scores of job offers. I have yet to look through them. I'm pretty sure I can find work. They have a lot of people offering. A lot of volunteers and people calling up with job offers. I'm pretty confident. It's only been a few days. I'm not like sweating, like worried. I know it'll come. I mean, if it was like, several weeks, I'd be worried. I haven't really gotten around to it. I've been more or less digging around getting on my feet.
Did you and Daryll know each other before the hurricane? No. We're like new neighbors in a new city. We've got something in common. We've been through the same thing. We've been through the same nightmare.
They swap numbers and discuss details.
John: I'm getting ready to go to the food pantry. I gotta pick up some food.
Darryl: Well I'll give you a call. I got your number now.
John: Well, I'm not going nowhere yet. I'm hanging out here because Marilyn's coming at 11:00. She said she might be able to take me around to get some stuff, because I might want to get some clothes, you know. With his debit card from FEMA.
Darryl: Didn't you see ... um .... Jenny?
John: Jenny? Oh yeah I seen Jenny.
Darryl: She had some clothes yesterday.
John: Oh, really? I could use some clothes. She's supposed to be bringing me stuff.He turns to me. I gave her a list. I had to write down everything I didn't have. They brought me a big moving truck full of furniture. But they can't think of everything, know what I mean? But they try. You know, mops, brooms, dustpans, buckets, cleaning supplies. You name it. Then after you get organized you see what you don't have and write it on a list, and they try to get you that. They have all kinds of stuff that people donated. Like I didn't have a rug for my bathroom. I didn't have a plunger. You need a plunger. Salt and pepper shaker, I didn't have that; ashtray, I didn't have that. Little things you don't think of.
Ronald, heavy equipment operator, 36. Been in New Orleans two years. He is gregarious and a little bombastic in the way he speaks. A natural-born storyteller. I interviewed him while he was helping sort food donations with a volunteer named Brandy.
What were you doing in New Orleans?
Chillin. I did a little bit of work over there, but it wasn't nothing to really talk about. I was there two years. (From Albany.)
I got stuck on a roof. I was on one of them country blocks, I guess you call it. One of them houses that had dirt roads. (Brandy interjects: "The real hood.") I was on one of them blocks, and the water came real quick. It came under the doors. The people I was with were trying to put blankets and sheets under the door. The next thing I know, the bathroom is filled up. The tub and everything. Just like that, the water was coming in that quick. That right there was kind of scary, because I don't know how to swim that good. I ain't gonna lie. (Brandy: How many black folk you know who know how to swim?) My greatest safety is on the floor.
People were riding around in boats. We was on the roof at this time, earlier that day and into the next day. Only like the attic was dry. The water wasn't up to the attic. I remember we took a leak in the water in the attic. Man, I don't know what you thought, but how we gonna get down? That's how much water it was. Couldn't even go downstairs.
I was in the Superdome for a week. (He sits and quiets down. His gregarious storytelling nature is gone.) It was hectic. It was a lot of people, frustrated, stinky, sweaty, fighting. A lot of things that you wouldn't even believe were going on. When they first got people there, there wasn't no security there, you know. It was rough, it was rough. Something I ain't never experienced before.
Then we made it to Houston and met Rita. It didn't take me long to decide if I'm gonna leave Houston or Orleans. It took Rita and Jenny to really tell me, to look me in my eye and really tell me, what they said out they mouth was gonna go down. They told me they are willing, if I'm willing to get out of Houston and Orleans, that they could make my life more better in a new town that I never heard of. And they said it was Madison, but that it was in Wisconsin. I said, 'Man I ain't never been in no Wisconsin! That's a white boy's spot, man!' She said, 'No, it's not like that.' She said it's a black community, and there's lovely people out there willing to take care of stuff. They're taking care of stuff right now. She said they came together for y'all to come up there right now, and would you mind coming with us, and I said yes. It took some people like a day and a half and like that, but it took me (snaps fingers) like that. I don't know this lady from Adam. But she told me something. She gave me trust, you know what I'm saying? She gave me something that a lot of people don't get, you know what I'm saying? She made me trust her, you know what I'm saying? And I believe I came because she made me trust her, know what I'm saying? I believe what she was saying was true. Everything she said has came through. Everything. And I'm still thankful.
What do you think of Madison?Man, I love it. I've only been here a week, and it's like ... know what I mean? I ain't waiting for no escape, though. Know what I'm saying? Whatever happened now just happened, and I'm here. So I'm thankful I'm here. I ain't in Houston, I ain't in Orleans. Anyplace is better than those two. See what I'm saying?
Any job prospects? I have a job. I believe I will have it before 7:00 tonight. I'm a heavy equipment operator. I have somebody who's interested in my field, my expertise right now. He's calling back and we're going to have lunch or breakfast or whatever. We're going to fill out the application and decide from right there.
I'm going to be in Madison for a long time. I'm gonna be in Madison for a long time. I ain't sure of the area. I ain't been like all the way around. We've gone around and seen some of the spots, you know, the Capitol, you know, the college area, the expensive houses, other locations. We've been driving around. (Brandy: "You're doing a lot of talking. You're supposed to be talking and moving!" He resumes sorting food.) It's cool, man. I mean, I'm a traveler, you know what I'm saying? So I really don't have no problem moving around from state to state. That's one of my things that I like to do. I like to move around, and see other places, meet other people. This is someplace that I can stay and move out and come back and still have fun with my eighteen-wheeler. Yeah, I'm gonna get me an eighteen-wheeler. I don't know when, but I'm working on it.
Peggy, 50. Came with her two college-age daughters.
I've been in New Orleans all my life. We wound up living in the attic for about three or four days. The phones went dead, but my cell phone could get 911. And I called 911, and they told us just to stay in the ceiling. But it took a while. I kept jumping out, walking in the water, standing on the porch to see if I could get the helicopters to recognize that we was there. My oldest daughter heard somebody holler, 'The water's rising! Is there anybody in the house?' So I jumped out the ceiling down into the water in the home and I went out and the Army man was in the boat. We ran out with no shoes. Just with what we had on. We had nothing. I left everything and got in the boat. They brought us to the bridge and then brought us to the Dome in New Orleans.
That wasn't pretty at all. We were there three or four days. I think the Dome was the worst experience we had. We witnessed little children getting raped. We witnessed another man, just a young teenager died in front of us. We witnessed a lot of stuff in there. The Dome had all the water cut off. All the toilets were cut off. You couldn't flush the toilets. I don't even know what they were thinking about putting that many people in the place with no facilities, no running water, the toilets ... it was terrible. Just imagine a bunch of people in there.
And another thing. Some of the lights was off, and some of them from out of town let their children go to the bathroom, but little bitty children can't think, don't go in the facility where there's no lights. I think that's where the men was catching them at. In the bathroom. Couple of them got raped. Couple of them young teens got killed. But I think that what happened is ... I don't think it was Army people. I don't know who it was, but they were dressed like Army people.
Her younger daughter, Sherell, interjects: They were Army people. It was the government. The government can do what they want. That's why they done what they done to us.
Peggy continues:But they had rifles, and they was running like they was in a war. And then you have young people had gangs and believed in turf and all that, and afraid these people - I've never been in a gang, but I imagine these young people said, 'Well, they're coming in here to our turf, trying to take over,' and I think both of them was trying to prove something to themselves. Nobody was trying to compromise, trying to work it out. But when they come in with their rifles and they come in with the teenagers, and they was all walking around with loaded rifles, and I think these young people had their turf and had lived in New Orleans all their lives, and this is where the problems came in. It was like both of them trying to prove something to each other. The grown men could have been better. I think the young people that was witness to that flood and had seen bodies and seen people that didn't live to get out of there, that should have been an eye-opener for them to try to do better. The Army should have came in better. I think both of them should have came in better. The Army people, because I know they've been in war, and the young people because once you see this, once you see this much water and violence between the people and people hollering for help and nobody can't get in, you know what I'm trying to say? They could try to work with them, but nobody tried to work with each other. I think that was the worst experience I had.
I met Rita by the bus stop in Houston. I had visited (Madison). I was coming here right after my husband died, but I never did. I was kind of lucky. I was going to come here or go to Canada. What disgusted me was the murder rate. What really disgusted me was the little six-year-old somebody killed and left their footprint on her back. And then another seven-year-old boy a man stabbed, and that took a lot out of me. I was thinking I was going either here or Canada. But I met Rita, she kept reaching out and reaching out.
I can't describe what [the hurricane] took out of me. It's just going to take time. As I go forward, every now and then, I feel my soul crying out. It just hurts. I told her it wasn't the storm. I could have weathered the storm. But what I seen in people, I could not take. I could not bear that. It was after the storm in New Orleans, the way that they acted, and the killing and the raping. At that time I think I just got fed up. It wasn't everybody, but I think what I came out of that was I just didn't want to be there no more.
Did the government let you down? I think in Texas, we were better off. But in the Dome, in New Orleans, it could have been handled better. There was no toilets working. There was no lights in some of the women's bathrooms. You know it wasn't organized. They could have kept it organized. It wasn't organized at all.
(In Madison) they kept reaching out. They kept showing me it's going to be all right. Constantly, they were coming from all over. Constantly, I felt the love, I felt the openness. It was different. They offered me a job, you know, the house was just beautiful. They set up the house, the food. Everything they could, the kept on reassuring me it's going to be better. It's different. A lot of love and a lot of caring. Rita kept pushing, she kept pushing. So many people came. I mean I don't even remember all of them. I have a drawer full of names and I don't even remember them. It's like they open up their door and open up their heart and number one they kept showing me God. I didn't reach out to them but the Christ that was in their life that they wanted to show, and they wanted us to see that they love, that they try to live the life of Christ wants them to live. It's been real beautiful. They helped us by reaching out. They never stopped caring. They never stopped pushing.
Sherell was just getting ready to go to Dillard University [in New Orleans]. She couldn't go because of the storm, but she was already registered, she was already ready. Sherell has been in English gifted class since she first started English in third grade. My baby. Every year the city sent her some kind of award. She got all kinds of awards. Sherell is somebody who'll talk street talk, but if you make her mad, Sherell will start using words with meaning, and she'll be cutting you down, and if you don't know the meaning, she will get you. And she will stand up, and she says the endings of words, and she start telling you words, and she knows them. They used to give her 150 words and she had to know the meanings of them, and she know. And she'll be cutting you down, and you don't know what she's talking about. In other words, she can talk your talk. She can talk the street talk, but if she's backed in the corner she'll stand up and she'll let a whole new person come out, to where you'll say, 'Where you come from?' Somebody will say like, 'Wait a minute! With us you're talking English, but when you talk to that lady, another person came out.' And that's Sherell. That's the babygirl. And she don't be pretending. If you see the awards I have back home for the English. They gave her the Key to the City, she got a pass to the zoo, she got all kind of stuff, all kind of ribbons and stuff. She really has been in the gifted English classes since day one. It's remarkable ... even after losing everything, she glows when bragging about her child.
Are you staying? I haven't thought about that yet. I have to figure stuff out. I don't know. Sherell's going on 20 next month. I let her make her own choices.
And the older daughter?Victoria. She's 23. She's going to school at ... she struggles to remember ... that's my children, now! She laughs. Where's Victoria going to school at? Edgewood [College in Madison]. She's going to Edgewood in January. She was just starting signing up back at home. She don't know what her major is yet.
Brian, 28, cook and part-time tattoo artist. "Born and raised" in New Orleans.
I was hard-headed. I knew the storm was gonna hit and I decided to stay in the city. What we got down in New Orleans we call a hurricane party. Hurricane comes, we just sit outside in lawn chairs and just sit in the rain and drink beer. When we realized the storm was going to hit, we tried to get out but it was too late. The roads were closed, everything was closed. I work part-time at a tattoo shop. Tattoo shop was made out of cinder blocks. So we figured if we go in there and we get strong winds, we'd be ok in the shop. But the shop was not far from where the canal broke in. We went from two feet of water to fifteen in a matter of minutes. We had to stick it out. We had about this much space right here (indicating the small room in which we're standing) in the tattoo shop of dry land. We had to sit on poles and stuff so we wouldn't be in the heat the whole day on the roof waiting for a helicopter or a boat to come by. Finally a boat came by and we hopped in and went to dry land and then went to Houston, me and my friend. I stayed on dry land for maybe twelve, thirteen hours until the bus came, then got on the bus and went straight to Houston.
I was walking around in Houston, around the Astrodome and the Reliant Center with my friend James, because we knew it's gonna be a while before New Orleans is rebuilt, so we figure we have to start over again, decide where we were gonna go. Wherever we're gonna go, we're gonna go together, so we can have a support system set up. We talked to a couple different people. Rita was the only one that gave us any real information about what was going on, where we was going. And she said that she'd help us, whether we went with her or not, she would help us. So it just seemed like the most logical decision to make, so we chose Wisconsin. I like the cold weather. Most of my family's from Colorado, so cold weather don't surprise me. I look forward to it. It's a lot better than the humid.
I like Madison. There's not too much to complain about. It's a nice town. I got two leads on jobs, cooking. I think I'm gonna hang around a while. James is talking about staying. I don't know if he's going to stay as long as I am. But he's got no intention of going back to New Orleans. He's not from New Orleans originally. He's just been living there. He's originally from New York, but he was living there like fifteen or twenty years. But he says he's not moving back to New Orleans either.
I was looking for a reason to get out anyway, before the storm ever hit. I just didn't know exactly how to do it or where I was gonna go. But now I have that chance, and I think I'm gonna stay gone. Something a lot of people don't know about New Orleans - the cost of living's going up, the quality of living's going down. We're paying more to live but living worse and worse because the buildings are turning all into condos. (Brandy: Sounds like Madison!) There's a lot more poor areas in New Orleans than there are in Madison. Twenty times more. And like I said, cost of living's going up, the quality of living's going down.