Bizman is Answer to Many Prayers

NICOLE BODE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
5 September 2005

BATON ROUGE, La. - Sherry Reaux was sleeping in a church yesterday when her prayers were answered from the sky.

A California businessman had arrived at her shelter - aptly named the Miracle Place - to offer 120 evacuees a free chartered flight to San Diego, where he had arranged housing, jobs and free private education for their children.

The plane was to take off in three hours.

Reaux, 24, of Algiers, La., was torn.

Her 5-year-old son, Lawrence, and mother, Louise, 47, were at the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, an hour away. She had no way to reach them.

But her hesitation passed.

"They told me, when I get in touch with her, they gonna send my mama and baby to me," said Reaux as she waited for her flight inside Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, clutching what remained of her belongings.

"I got down on my knees and said, 'Thank you, Lord.' It was like a blessing, like the Lord came to us."

Eighty evacuees at Miracle Place leaped at the offer from David Perez, 42, chief executive officer of Surge Global Energy, an oil and gas firm in San Diego.

Perez launched the quarter-million-dollar wildcat operation last week, after becoming outraged by the government's slow response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

He collected funds from across California, stocked up on food, water and medical supplies at his local Costco and chartered a $10,000 Delta Airlines jumbo jet to fly to Louisiana.

"I rolled up my sleeves after seeing our government do nothing," said Perez.

The last-minute offer also sowed some jealousy and resentment among the 650 evacuees at Bethany Church in Baton Rouge, where Perez picked up an additional 44 people.

Demikia Watson, 30, cowered in the corner of the auditorium as her aunt berated her for signing herself and her 13-year-old daughter, Jade, up for the flight when there was no room for other family members. Watson ultimately decided to stay put.

"I'm going to cry, Mama," Jade said. "They had a house for us, a rental car and money."