Thanah’s Story

Thanah is a survivor.  Thanah, a Vietnamese fishermen, lives along the cost in East Biloxi, MS and has spent 20 out of his 21 years living in the area along the coast. Not only was Thanah’s  home destroyed by the hurricane, but he has lost his only source of livelihood as well.

Due to the conditions following the hurricane, fishing has been banned by the local authorities for at least the next three months.  Thanah, who speaks broken English and dropped out of the seventh grade to become a full-time fisherman, has no other means of supporting his family.

Asked whether he would leave the area, he replied simply, “I have a boat. I have to stay.”

Although Thanah’s boat survived the fury of the storm, he is legally restricted from fishing. Furthermore, the processing plants along the coast were also completely wiped out.  The seafood industry as a whole has been crippled by Katrina’s aftermath, and the economic structure of this coastal city has been dramatically impacted.

Because Thanah’s home was destroyed during the hurricane, he and his family of four are now living on his small fishing boat.  He does not yet know if he will receive any compensation from the insurance company.  Despite the dire situation confronting him and his family, he remains calm.

“A lot of people have no home. We don’t care about our house,” he said. “We care about our people.”

Duc Nzuyen’s Story

Sitting outside the Chua Van Duc Buddhist Temple in East Biloxi, Duc Nzuyen welcomes fellow survivors as they seek food provisions and relief supplies at the temple.  Duc, tired but friendly, smiles as a family carries out a box of noodles, rice and soy sauce – the staple foods for the majority of families living in this Vietnamese community.

Duc Nzuyen, a former casino worker, has lived in East Biloxi, MS for the last five years. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he and his sister and mother weathered the storm in their home. Miraculously, no one was hurt and the house was left damaged but still standing.

“The water came up to here,” he said, gesturing to his knees.

Until Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes and the casinos along the Gulf Coast, Duc had worked as a valet driver at the Boomtown Casino. According to Mississippi state law, all casinos are required to be built on floating barges – most of which were destroyed by the hurricane and forced on shore by the tidal surge.

Once the showcase of the Biloxi economy, the casinos now resemble hollowed shells with gutted floors and broken windows.

Duc, along with an estimated 16,000 Biloxi residents, have lost their jobs and the primary source of employment along the coast.  The nine casinos in the area constituted the backbone of the economy, generating approximately $1 million in revenue each month for the city of Biloxi, MS and approximately $6 million each month for the state.

Some estimate that it will take anywhere between six months to two years for the gaming industry to recover from Katrina’s impact. Boomtown Casino has offered to pay Duc’s salary for the next ten weeks.  When asked what he will do after that, he simply shakes his head and says, “I don’t know.”

In the meantime, Duc fills his days working at the Chua Van Duc Buddhist Temple helping other evacuees who have lost their homes, belongings and jobs because of the hurricane. Duc comes each day to pack boxes filled with tea, bean curd and sugar, and distributes large bags of rice to his neighbors. He helps out each day because, as he said, “not many people know about us.”

Deborah Lundy’s Story

Deborah Lundy has worked as a librarian in the West Biloxi area for 22 years.  Now, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, she is left to sort through boxes of hygiene products and food provisions at a local Catholic church, selecting relief supplies for her family.

Although Deborah’s home sustained “real bad structural damage,” her family of four is living in the only two remaining rooms in her house.  She admits that it’s not easy, but asserts “we have nowhere to go.” In addition to caring for her sixteen year-old daughter and husband, Deborah is now caring for her disabled sister who lost her home during the hurricane.

Deborah is hopeful her family will be able to move into one of the trailers promised to the thousands of displaced families by the local authorities. However, there is no guarantee that they will receive a trailer. Until more permanent housing can be arranged, she is focused on taking care of her daughter and sister, Carolyn Lee, who suffers from a severe heart condition.

Deborah speaks warmly of Carolyn and the need to carefully monitor her tenuous heart condition. “She nearly died last year,” she says somberly as she gives her sister a quick hug and shows the scar on Carolyn’s chest.

The family has also talked about sending Deborah’s teenage daughter to San Antonio, TX so she can attend school with friends but Deborah smiles as she explains that her husband was adamantly opposed to their daughter leaving.

“She’s at that age now – that age for dating,” she says, and her husband insists that their daughter stay close to home where he can be sure to screen any potential boyfriends.

For now, Deborah is focused entirely on meeting her family’s immediate needs until she can return to work at the West Biloxi Library.

The West Biloxi Library along with three other branches in the Biloxi, MS and Gulfport areas were destroyed, leaving Deborah without a job.  Fortunately, the Mississippi Library association will pay her salary until the library is rebuilt. Her husband is currently working at the Biloxi Veterans’ Administration and the two are struggling to make ends meet “until the trailers come.”

“I started shelving books as a page,” she said. “I decided to get my masters, and now I’m the Branch Manager of the West Biloxi Library,” she said proudly.