Hotel serves as ‘home’ for evacuees

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Christopher Anderson⁄The Gazette LaToyra Hayes and her children, Nije, 3, and Elijah, 2, are living in the Ramada Inn in New Carrollton hotel, adjusting to life after losing their New Orleans home to Hurricane Katrina last month.

The family has been staying there after evacuating their New Orleans home following Hurricane Katrina.

‘‘It’s frustrating at times, but we can’t complain because we have somewhere to sleep,” Hayes said.

The family is one of between 22 and 30 that have been staying at the Ramada since County Executive Jack B. Johnson requested a response from hotels, said Parvez Ahmed, the Ramada’s general manager.

Helping out like this is especially important for Ahmed, a native of Bangladesh, a country near India and Burma prone to flooding.

‘‘Being in the hospitality industry is what we’re about. We want to provide shelter and had the opportunity to do it,” he said.

Since the American Red Cross is picking up the tab for putting up the families, they can stay indefinitely, Ahmed said.

An exact number of how many evacuees are in the county was unavailable. Nia Davis, a spokeswoman for the county Department of Social Services, referred questions to the National Capital Area chapter of the Red Cross.

Chapter spokesman Cameron Ballantyne said his information could not be broken down into specific counties.

The chapter continues to help about 4,000 evacuees across the region, which encompasses Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland, the District, and parts of Virginia, he said.

Hayes, Duronsilet and the boys left New Orleans Sept. 2, nearly a week after the hurricane hit. They couldn’t leave sooner because they lacked transportation, Hayes said.

Arriving at the Ramada, they had only two suitcases full of clothes. And life in a hotel room isn’t easy.

‘‘You can only get certain things in here because we can’t cook. So we’re living off TV dinners,” which can be heated in a microwave, Hayes said. ‘‘You go shopping once a week.”

Hayes hasn’t able to find a job because she didn’t have anyone to watch the boys until last week. Help from the county Department of Social Services finally came through, enabling her to put the boys in daycare, she said.

The daycare is a half-hour walk. Hayes uses either the Metro bus or train to look for retail jobs in between taking them to daycare or picking them up.

She has helped manage a candy store and worked at a jewelry store. If neither of those turns up anything, she said she has secretarial experience.

Duronsilet declined to say what kind of work he is seeking, saying, ‘‘I’m just happy to be blessed with my life. I’m not worried about stuff like that.”

The couple has different opinions about whether they would like to return to their home. Hayes said she would because she has heard conflicting stories about if it is still flooded or if the damage is as bad as initially though.

But Duronsilet described the hotel room as being comfortable and said he could stay there forever.

Hayes said she knows the family can do better.

‘‘I would like to go back to New Orleans to see the damage and if there’s anything I can take, but no, I don’t want to go to back to New Orleans,” she said.

The family also has strong views concerning the help they have received so far, including $100 from the Salvation Army. They are still waiting for $2,500 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hayes said, adding that money wouldn’t cover half of their unsalvageable items.

What little they have has to go toward basic needs immediately, she said.

‘‘I have to buy diapers. I have to get all kinds of necessities,” she said.

‘‘We have to catch the bus for job (interviews.) You have to keep a positive attitude. You can’t go looking for jobs with a negative attitude.”

E-mail Jennifer Donatelli at jdonatelli@gazette.net.