More hurricane Katrina news blogs
From The Times-Picayune
From SunHerald.com
From The Advocate and WBRZ News Louisiana (right on the home page)
USA Today
Aug 29, 2005 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT
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1 comments about 'More hurricane Katrina news blogs'Hi; my name is Joe. I had two large shrimp boats in Key West, FL when Dennis and Katrina came through. Both storms battered my boats too badly for me to repair them. I contacted FEMA and was told that they would help...
I had to get my boats to a railways and have estimates for repairs, so I took them back to my home town of Tarpon Springs, FL and did as I was told. When I contacted them again i was told the devastation was too great in Mississippi and Louisiana for them to help me.
I borrowed fuel on credit down in Key West to get my boats to the railway and even though Tarpon Springs used to be a fishing village now there isn't dock space for our boats. I had to bank my boats on the edge of the river using fuel in a 5 gallon bucket to move them. Now they're sitting there with no way to repair them. I'm being fined daily and told I am going to have two felony charges; one for each boat if I don't remove them in 30 days.
Water has gotten into the engines, and now they're in even worse shape. I did get a job mowing grass for $10.00 dollars an hour and am thankful just to feed my family. I'm lucky to still have my home.
Over 20 years of fishing and shrimping made a fair living for us. I sure miss my old life on the water but need to move these boats. I don't want to go to jail or have the felonies just because two storms destroyed my life and boats. The city of Tarpon Springs has about $25,000 in fines and then $30,000 to $40,000 to remove each boat.
Are other hurricane victims being treated like this? Also, that's 20 years of my life and $300,000 worth of boats and I sure wouldn't just abandon them. I survived two major hurricanes and now I'm facing this nightmare. My 10 year old daughter asked me, "Daddy, are you going to jail?"
Thanks for any info.
Joe Renardo
727-741-1937 ... i dont think anyone should be charged with a crime after going thru these storms
Posted by joe at October 18, 2007 6:27 PM
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