World

Hurricane Katrina

HA RRY CON

FEATURING

BRANFORD MARSALIS

A SPECIAL DUO OCCASION

Experience CPrmickthe pianist
in a rare non-vocal appearance,
performing selections from
Occasion, his duo instrumental
recording with Marsalis.

Surviving

Jewish New Orleanians search for stability.

2 SHOWS SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 10, 2005

MICHAEL C. DUKE
Jewish Herald-Voice

at 7:00PM & 9:00PM

4111

AT THE MAX M. FISHER MUSIC CENTER IN THE MUSIC

Box
For ticket info call 313-576-5111 or d.etroitsymphonycom

Sponsored by LaSalle Bank.

an enchanting evening of symphonic
works from the film world

Featuring music from Oscar-whining motion
pictures including selections from Schindler's List,
Star Wars, Out ofAfrica, Now Voyago; and more.

Itzhak Perlman, violin
. Thomas Wilkins, conductor

MAX M. FISHER MUSIC CENTER

For ticket info call 313-376-3111 or detroitsymphony.com

1020.170

Shaarey Hashi rim

professional Jewish choir invites
Experienced College and Adult Choral Singers
to join a new ensemble to explore Jewish
sacred and secular choral music.
Auditions in October following the High Holydays.
Planned activities include solo, recording
and broadcast opportunities,
For information, call Oakland Performing Arts.
248-552-0025
and leave your name and contact information.

JN

9/ 8

2005

76

Houston
1 odi and Raul Zighelboim
arrived in Houston late
Saturday evening, Aug. 27,
with their two children, Selah and
Gabriel, and little more than a change
of clothes for each member of the
family.
The Zighelboims have evacuated
their uptown New Orleans home five
times in recent years under threat of
hurricanes. Each time, they came to
Houston and stayed a few days with
Jodi's mother and great aunt, and
then returned home without any
major problems.
They thought this time would be
no different.
After waking up Tuesday morning,
Aug. 30, ready to make the crawl
back home on I-10, the Zighelboims
learned that more than 80 percent of
their city had been swallowed up
overnight by Hurricane Katrina's
floodwaters, breeching levees at
Industrial Canal, Treme and Lakeview.
Physically and emotionally, neither
Jodi nor Raul were prepared for this
news. Their two-story home is located
near Palmer and Claiborne, an area
that was heavily submerged, according
to aerial photographs splashed across
the nightly news. With their entire
lives now under several feet of water,
the Zighelboims felt as if they them-
selves had drowned.
"The overwhelming sense of uncer-
tainty — with everything — has been
the most difficult aspect to deal with,"
said Jodi. It was the Zighelboims'
sixth day in Houston.
All four were sleeping in a single
room and living out of a half-empty
suitcase.
"We simply have no idea what lies
ahead of us," Jodi said. "We thought
we'd be gone only a couple of days, so
we brought nothing. The last time we
made this trip, we packed as much as
we could and brought it with us. But
we left this time in such a hurry. I
wish I had our pictures — oh God, I
hope we haven't lost them all ..."
"So far, we haven't been able to
make contact with hardly anybody.

t

Our cell phones don't work and our
work e-mails are down. I feel so dis- •
oriented, there's so much disorder.
But thank God we made it here safely,
and as a family. Otherwise, I wouldn't
be able to cope.
Jodi is a professor of health sciences
at Tulane University and also relies on
the school's e-mail system. She had no
web-based e-mail address before the
evacuation, nor does she have access
to many of her friends' and colleagues'
e-mail addresses.
"Having a cell phone that works
would provide some much-needed
stability," Jodi said, "which is what we
are so desperate for right now. I just
want somebody to know that we are
here ...
"What I'd like is to have our city
back," Raul said. "But how and when
can we return? What if our employers
and these major corporations don't
come back? What are we to do then?
This is a great fear of mine. We need
jobs so that we can feed. and clothe •
our families."
Originally from Lima, Peru, Raul
works as director of technology for a
New Orleans computer-networking
firm, which he believes will not return
to the Crescent City.
He and Jodi own a home, which
has 11 years left on the mortgage;
they also own two vehicles, one of
which was left behind. They send
their children to private Jewish day
school.
RaUl is now struggling with the
reality that he and his family are in
need of assistance. "I need a job. I
need a job," repeated Raul, blanching.
Jodi, across the table, hopes the -cat-
astrophic flood has not jeopardized
her teaching position.
Tulane University, which established
a satellite campus in Houston last year
for its MBA program, now has its
headquarters at the Houston Marriot
Hotel, and is trying to contact its pro-
fessors and students. A temporary
Web site features up-to-date informa-
tion about faculty paychecks, health
insurance and other concerns.
But Jodi is worried: "What are we
going to do here for the next six
months if we can't find jobs? We're
going to go crazy." ❑

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