Biloxi family left homeless by storm comes to Corbin

After what seemed like endless hours of wondering, Corbin resident Claudette Garlic got a simple text message via cell phone that soon became the most welcome words she’d read in her life.
She had wondered anxiously about the fate of her daughter Vicki Zimmerman – a resident of Biloxi, Miss., a town hard hit by Hurricane Katrina nine days ago. The message told her simply that her daughter and her family were alive.
Garlic now plays host to her extended family of 11 at her home on Stewart Road.
“I’m just glad they are safe,” Garlic said. “I’m glad they are here. They are welcome to stay as long as they want.”
Vicki Zimmerman, along with her husband Warren and their four children drove to Kentucky last week after their Biloxi homes were demolished by the hurricane. Vicki’s eldest daughter, Amanda Moran, brought her five-month old daughter, husband and sister-in-law along as well.
Warren and Vicki said worsening conditions in the city after the hurricane forced their departure. Their future could never be more uncertain.
“It’s really bad,” Vicki said. “Everybody’s got damage to their house … I don’t care what I lost. We are all alive and that’s what I prayed for. We didn’t think we would make it through. We really didn’t.”
Vicki and Warren said their home, about a mile and a half from the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, is severely damaged – the roof caving in … the walls collapsing.
Warren Zimmerman said his family’s decision to ride out the hurricane was one of necessity. His wife was a nurse at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss., another town hard hit by Katrina. She said hospital officials threatened to fire her if she didn’t show up for her shifts. Additionally, she said they threatened her with criminal prosecution if she abandoned her post. Her job is considered a public service position.
Additionally, roadways were clogged with standstill traffic, making departure just before the storm’s arrival almost impossible.
The family recalled the horrifying night at their home when the hurricane hit in ominous tone.
“It seemed like it never ended for hours on end,” Warren said. “Wind pounded and the rain kept coming. The Gulf of Mexico actually came up several yards from our house.”
“The water got so bad the house and ceilings were collapsing … water was dripping through the light fixtures. It was pretty scary.”
Many people stayed to ride out the storm in Biloxi based on past experience with Hurricane Camille in 1969 – technically the most powerful storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland.
The situation this time around was worse.
“The whole town is flattened,” Warren Zimmerman said. “There’s nothing back there for us. It’s gone.”
Warren was a shift manager at President Casino – a three-story facility uprooted and blown three blocks down a highway by the storm. Biloxi had a thriving gaming industry until the storm. He said it is unlikely the casinos will be an economic force in the city anytime soon.
Amanda Moran said her house filled with waist-deep water quickly. She had to escape with her infant daughter held high over her head. The rush of water into their home made it hard to stand.
“We could hardly get out,” she said. “We had to walk over branches and trees and telephone wires and climb fences. We had to swim down the road to my husband’s grandparent’s house. Everything we had was ruined by the water.”
The family survived miserable days and triple-digit temperatures for two nights before deciding to leave. They stayed briefly at a military base in Mississippi before driving the remainder of the way to Corbin.
Warren Zimmerman said he plans to go back to Biloxi soon to retrieve some important paperwork and other personal items. The family said they might relocate to Corbin permanently.