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Storm's silver lining

Despite difficult losses, a pair of business owners are in St. Petersburg on the rebound from Hurricane Katrina.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published August 30, 2006

For two transplanted New Orleans business owners, the hardships of Hurricane Katrina showed them how fortunate they were.

"I was very lucky," said Ronee Holmes, who lost half a million dollars in stock and equipment when her Flutter Fetti Fun Factory on Bienville Street succumbed to 6 feet of the storm's floodwaters last year.

Though Holmes had to move her business to St. Petersburg, her 1841 Foubourg Marigny home survived the storm unscathed. She said vandals broke in while she was in Florida filling confetti orders, but because she had recently had some remodeling done, most of her possessions were packed, which left little for the thieves. She's now back in New Orleans, though her factory remains here.

Ysidoro Rodriguez was more fortunate. He and his brothers were in the process of moving their cigar business to St. Petersburg. Ysidoro had left in July of last year to run the lounge they opened at 340 First Ave. N. Brother Luis left the day before Katrina struck, while brother Rafael got caught behind and didn't get out for two more days.

"I'm a lucky man, I tell ya," said Ysidoro, 43, who had chosen St. Petersburg because he and Luis had teenage children and didn't want them subjected to the temptations of the Big Easy. "New Orleans is a weird city. It's not for kids."

Ysidoro and Luis had sold their homes, but Rafael lost his in the floods and their sister sustained damage to hers, he said. They sold off or moved their remaining business assets after about six months, he said, because there was no one in New Orleans to sell to. He said they have no intention of returning.

"I was there for six years when it was good," Ysidoro said. "Why would I want to go back now when it is bad? I tell my sister, when you want to see me, I'll fly you here."

Rafael is on his own in New Jersey now, Ysidoro said, while he and Luis run the lounge and manage the national distribution of their Don Leoncio brand manufactured in their native Dominican Republic. A fourth brother, Juan, is watching the factory back home; they left behind five stores that represented a thriving business in New Orleans.

Holmes has had to work hard to get her business restarted. She moved it immediately after the storm because she had an order for a Paul McCartney concert tour and the storm had destroyed her materials.

"Tissue paper does not do well with water," she said.

Holmes said her business is now back to its pre-Katrina level, but she has debt because her losses were uninsured. She said she has learned a lesson and now has ample insurance as well as plans in case of another catastrophic event. She had left New Orleans before the storm, but two of her employees stayed behind.

"We didn't know what a hurricane was," said Vince Munoz, who moved here with Holmes' business after weathering the storm and its aftermath.

Munoz and Darrio Ferreira, who also followed the business, decided to wait out the storm in the Queen and Crescent Hotel with a friend, but were terrified when the walls started shaking and windows blew out. When the weather cleared, they stayed in Holmes' Foubourg Marigny house, but with rumors of violence spreading, they drove to Houston. There they got a text message from Holmes asking them to come to Florida. The trip took two days because they had to travel via Tennessee in order to find fuel.

Yet even Munoz is grateful.

"I learned that materials things are not worth it," he said, emotion welling in his throat. "I have my family. Material things, you can always get them back."

The Rodriguez brothers said their distribution business never suffered from the storm and their lounge is starting to pick up as word spreads. Ysidoro said the decision to move probably saved his life.

Holmes said she's happy with the way her operations rebounded, though "dirty dog" competitors spread rumors that she was out of business, she said. She said personally she had to go back to New Orleans.

"New Orleans is a hard city to leave," she said. "It's very seductive. The food, the music, there's a lot to love."

Holmes said New Orleans is returning to normal, especially the tourist areas like the French Quarter. She said visitors would never know anything had happened, but in neighborhoods life is still rough.

"There's so much devastation, it's depressing just to drive around," she said. "And every day, all the news is about Katrina. It's going to take a long time before you don't hear any more about that."

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com or by participating in itsyourtimes.com.

[Last modified August 30, 2006, 07:54:27]