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Evacuee recounts harrowing days

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

For many along the Gulf Coast only a few short weeks ago, the passage of time might understandably come to be rendered as “before Katrina” and “after Katrina.” But not so for Matt Dillon.

Dillon sat on a bench in front of the Microtel Inn in Union City Tuesday afternoon, his cell phone glued to his ear. Minutes later in the hotel lobby, the upbeat businessman spoke about the chaos that brought him to Atlanta, the efforts to bring stability to his life and that of others and the positive future ready to be forged.

Until Katrina hit, Dillon and his girlfriend owned businesses in New Orleans. He owned a property business and worked as a producer in the music and film industry and she owned a day spa. Both businesses were in east New Orleans. Both are gone.

“Both of those businesses are no more,” Dillon said resolutely. “Now they are under 20 feet of water.”

Like so many along the Gulf Coast areas of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, Dillon made the decision to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina slammed onto the shore. His decision to flee the wrath of Katrina paid off.

“The smartest thing for us to do was to get out before it hit. So we went east and we went early,” Dillon explained. “We left New Orleans on Sunday at 5 a.m. We first went to Mobile but a mandatory evacuation was ordered so we went to Ft. Walton Beach and stayed there two or three days but we started running out of money and resources. Then we decided to go to Atlanta.”

Though he left the Big Easy before Katrina hit, Dillon said he has spoken with friends that stayed behind. He spoke about their description of what had become of their city, things they had heard of, things they had seen, things horrific, things full of sorrow. As he recalled those events, that moment marked the only time during the conversation in the Microtel lobby when Dillon was not upbeat.

“It’s just chaos, man. It’s really, you know, it’s something where your worst fears are coming true,” Dillon said, eyes fixed forward as he stared into nowhere, the emotion in his voice and on his face unmistakable. “Stepping over dead bodies, seeing, uh, sharks and alligators eating your friends. People being raped, seeing people being beat up and killed, seeing people commit suicide and seeing people drown or starve to death.”

“But there are also stories of hope, you know,” Dillon continued, the light returning to his eyes. “People swimming six or seven blocks in alligator-infested water, people finding boats and rescuing other people and taking them to shelters or getting them away from all the chaos that is now New Orleans. And the stories continue because not everybody is out of there. And with sickness and disease descending on New Orleans it’s in worse condition that it has been in recent days.”

Now transplanted to the Atlanta area, Dillon decided to take care of his own needs and those of others that found themselves and their families in harm’s way. For him, it is a mission based on the desire to share proactive communication and help expedite the funneling of resources.

“In New Orleans I knew a tremendous number of people. That goes back to school and entertainment and music,” Dillon said. “So when I got here and went to the Red Cross or United Way or other agencies I invariably saw people I knew from home. It’s always been my nature to pass on information so I was able to help steer them past a lot of the bureacracy that would save them three or four hours of time. So that’s what I try to do. In addition to that, I know a lot of people around the country and here in Atlanta. They have been giving me food and clothes and everything. The things we can use we take and the things we can’t use we transfer to others that are in desperate need.”

As one of the countless numbers that fled the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast, Dillon is witnessing firsthand the result of that flight. Though upbeat in spirit, he spoke of the realities that displaced individuals and families face, the simple things that, in more normal times, most of us take for granted.

“We didn’t lose any family members, everybody’s safe. We did lose our homes and possessions, but there are many people that are doing much worse than I’m doing,” he said. “We are able to take showers and pretty much eat and we have a place to stay. But there are people, some with children, sleeping in their cars, people not eating, people without clothes, not able to take a bath. I feel empathy for them. Some of them I know. Some of them I don’t know. I never was one to be wasteful, so if there is something I can’t use I’m trying to pass it along to them. So now I’m trying to take it up to the next level and try to work with various fundraising organizations to try to do some benefit concerts.”

“I understand that Red Cross has $500 million but, you know, it’s really trickling down. People need money or they need gas cards or permanent housing and food and clothes. If you can help one family get permanent housing and get their kids in school they can then use their home to help one other family and it could be a domino effect. So I’m trying to pass on as much information as I possibly can to get to the heart of the matter. Because basically we all need the same thing.”

Dillon said he labored under no illusions about the short-term fate of his former home and the magnitude of the effort that will be necessary to bring a semblance of normality back to New Orleans. Those efforts, he said, from pumping the city dry to the decontamination process, from the rebuilding of infrastructure to reconstituting the local economy, will be a tremendous, time consuming endeavor.

But for Dillon, he is now in metro Atlanta. He is optimistic. He is upbeat. And he is taking responsibility to forge his future.

“We have a very bright future,” he said with a smile. “We’ve already begun the process. I’ve talked with different agencies to inquire what kind of assistance they have for businesses. I’m not waiting or twiddling my thumbs although we are now homeless and don’t have a lot of resources at our disposal. But we do have knowledge and the experience and the wherewithal to put a business together. If you have run one business you can do it again. We’re going to be proactive. That’s the key for success in life. We can’t fall and want to get up and not get up, even if you’re knocked back down again. This has been a tremendous loss, so it’s going to take a tremendous push to get back higher than we were before.”

Anyone wishing to network with Dillon on fundraising and other topics can contact him at (678) 789-0107, at the Microtel Inn in Union City at (770) 306-3800 or on the web at mmdprops@hotmail.com.