For Don and Helen Ridings, owners of ABS Computers & Satellites, the business never faltered after Hurricane Katrina, but their lives are still unsettled. With Katrina bearing down on Gulport on Aug. 29, 2005, the Ridings hopped in their RV, a converted New Jersey Transit bus, and drove as far as they could get before the storm hit. Within a few days they had decided to settle temporarily in Jacksonville, where they resumed ABS's contract maintenance business. Working and living from their RV, the Ridings were back in business in only a week.
Eighteen months later, the Ridings moved their base of operations back to Mississippi, about 25 miles from their former home. They're still in the RV, because their house and the office they owned were destroyed in the storm. Contamination issues, building restrictions and insurance backlogs have slowed rebuilding in Gulfport. "When homes get built up more, it will be better," says Don, 45.
So, the Ridings remain nomads. They used to do most of their business around Gulfport. Now, 90% of ABS's clients are outside the area. The couple has traveled all over the county for Envision, Configure, Inc. and OnForce (formerly ComputerRepair.com), three IT consulting companies that Ridings worked with before the storm. ABS Computers & Satellites has been rechristened Nationwide Computer Tech (nationwidecomputertech.com), because the Ridings say that they're ready to make house calls anywhere. "I might draw the line at Alaska," Don jokes. But they have been as far west as Arizona and as far east as Miami, traveling to jobs that take from one week to three months.
"We are fortunate. We can live in an RV together and put up with each other 24/7," says Don. But, two years on, he's growing tired of the grind. "I hope no one ever has to take these kinds of journeys," he says.
