Where Did Our Customers Go?
A LOUISIANA SHRIMPER struggles to stay afloat in the wake of Rita.
By Ron Stodghill

(FORTUNE Small Business) – After Katrina hit, many of our readers e-mailed and phoned us to ask about the fate of David and Kim Chauvin, the third-generation Louisiana shrimpers we had written about in our September issue. We tracked down the Chauvins and found them safe and eager to get their company, Mariah Jade, selling shrimp again. The storm, though, had shut down all the restaurants and grocery stores that were Mariah Jade's major customers. Katrina's 100-mph gusts also had knocked out electrical and cellphone service in the Chauvins' tiny bayou town of Chauvin. "It wasn't easy, but somehow we had finally got ourselves up and running again," says David. "We had lost our shipping center in New Orleans, but once our lights came back on, we managed to get our shrimp out by overnight delivery. That's when Rita hit."

Rita's floods hit the Chauvins' house, forcing the couple and their two children to take shelter temporarily on their shrimper, the 73-foot Mariah Jade, where a generator supplies electricity. As FSB went to press, the Chauvins were back in their home and were trying--unsuccessfully so far--to locate a shrimp processor that hadn't been shut down by the storm. "It's a little scary now," says Kim. "But we'll make it. I know that God didn't bring us this far to let us fall on our face."