Katrina Evacuee Returns Home -- From Elmira, NY

[mcscajun]

A good news story is a nice change on this anniversary week of last year's disaster that continues to affect so many...

One year after Hurricane Katrina threw millions of lives into chaos, a man who evacuated to the Twin Tiers is now back home near New Orleans. You may recall his story just days after he fled the hurricane torn region, when it aired on WETM-18 News last year. That is when Ryan Castro left his New Orleans area home and came to Elmira. For eight months Castro called the Southern Tier home before returning to help his family. In that short time here he made new friends, found new jobs, and even met the woman he plans to marry.

(snip)

In March, Castro returned to Kenner, LA, a New Orleans suburb, to reunite with his family who needed his help getting their lives back together. "My family was going through a lot, my mother lost her house and all her antiques, my sister lost her home, Castro recalled. So they just put in the S.O.S. and I came home without looking back at all."

(snip)

Just three weeks ago his girlfriend Elana, who's a student at Ithaca College came to visit. "The last time she visited was when I asked her to marry me, so now we're engaged and she plans to move down here after her last semester," Castro said. "Great things are usually begat from disasters, so I'm not all that surprised."

Castro tells WETM-18 News that the Snyder's, who he came to Elmira with, are also back in the New Orleans. Coincidentally, after losing touch with them for many months, he bumped into them just three weeks ago while his fiance was visiting. Once she graduates, Castro and Elana are planning to find their own apartment in New Orleans.

http://www.wetmtv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=16BF98DD-1050-4026-9AB3-72CB6F72F3EB

[bananas]

1. Thanks, that's a nice story. nt

[mcscajun]

2. Kickin' for the evening shift and the West Coast cube-rats

:kick: