Rebuilding

“We were preparing for the storm, down here, we get them so often, you try to pack coolers with ice and hope the power is out for 20 minutes,” he said. “Once it is, ‘Oh, the power is out indefinitely,’ there’s not a whole lot you can do, at that point, the planning is out the window.”

He organized food giveaways at his restaurants, Mopho and Maypop, to help get food to those who need it. Power has been restored and he planned on opening Mopho this past Thursday, but Maypop will remain closed for a few weeks. He said it’s harder to get loans and insurance when the problem is business interruption rather than physical damage.

“The hard part is I just took a huge loss and no one is getting me money,” he said. “At this point I’m out thousands and thousands of dollars and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Some who aren’t counting on insurance have started fundraising. In the Northeast, a tornado spawned in Ida’s wake left Wellacrest Farms, a New Jersey dairy farm owned by Marianne and Wally Eachus, nearly demolished. They have counted about 14 dead cows, and 100 are still missing as of Wednesday. A GoFundMe started by fellow farmer Hillary Stecher reached nearly $90,000 by Thursday. The goal is $1 million. The farm has insurance, but Marianne Eachus says she has no idea if it will cover what’s been lost.

Howard, who runs three Felipe’s Mexican restaurants in New Orleans, said his lights were back on and he reopened his three restaurants about noon this past Wednesday. But supply disruptions remain. His biggest supplier, Performance Food Group, is in the heavily-damaged city of Houma, and told him it would be at least three weeks before they’re out delivering key limes, chicken and other items again.

“I’m concerned about ability to capitalize on when the power comes back on because of supply chain issues and team members still scattered about,” he said. He estimates that with food spoilage and at least two weeks of lost operations he could lose as much as $250,000.

Nicole Dorignac, co-owner of Dorignac’s Food Center, said the 70-year old grocery store had minor roof and fencing damage. The bigger problem was making sure her staff of about 175 were OK.

“Many evacuated,” she said. “Many are coming home to a lot of destruction to their houses. A lot of water damage and roof damage.”

About 55 employees have come back for limited hours since the store reopened Sept. 8. Many employees are still dealing with storm damage and power outages and stuck at home waiting for insurance adjusters or tarps for their roofs. The store is only open limited hours until more employees can return.

“We had a disaster crew skeleton crew,” she said. “We have some that live nearby that come literally hell or high water.”