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Dodging a Bullet: Louisianans Worry Another Storm Like Katrina Would Doom
Them

Ramon Taylor

   VOA Russian Service's Alex Yanevsky contributed to this report.

   NEW ORLEANS -- In his own words, shrimp runs through the veins of
   Charles Robin III, 59, a seventh-generation fisherman on the Louisiana
   bayou and a familiar face in the St. Bernard Parish, 45 kilometers (28
   miles) from New Orleans.

   Two days after Hurricane Barry spared much of southern Louisiana from
   major flooding this past week, it was back to business for Robin and
   his crew. It's "the life we chose," he says reassuringly, standing next
   to his granddaughter off the side of his boat.

   Had it not been for the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- a
   storm that left him with "three T-shirts, two pairs of drawers, two
   pairs of shorts" and his boat -- he might be close to retiring.
   Instead, he plans to work another 20 years beside his son, who also
   works in the business.

   The distant future, however, is less certain. Robin can't guarantee
   that his grandkids will carry on the mantle of the business for a ninth
   generation. It's long been tough to make a living. Rising tides and
   worsening weather have made it tougher.

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