Hotel makes for hectic home for family
Published 12:03 am Wednesday, August 29, 2012
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LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Erin Adams, left, wraps up her 3-month-old daughter, Kloey, as her son Ethan, 3, and nephew Beau Chiasson play on the bed and her sister Katelyn Chiasson rests with Katelyn’s boyfriend M.J. Gonzalez after checking into their Isle of Capri hotel room Tuesday afternoon. The family evacuated from Morgan City before Hurricane Isaac made landfall.
NATCHEZ — Patrick and Erin Adams regularly have their hands full with a house full of four kids in Morgan City, La., but with Hurricane Isaac looming, the couple was willing to make things a bit more hectic.
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LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Ethan Adams, 3, points at his father Patrick, center, as he and MJ Gonzalez, left, blow up an inflatable bed Tuesday afternoon inside of their Isle of Capri hotel room. The Adams family evacuated to Natchez from Morgan City for Hurricane Isaac, and have their room booked until Friday.
Patrick, Erin and their children and nephew, along with Erin’s sister, Katelyn Chiasson and her boyfriend, M.J. Gonzalez, traveled to Natchez hoping to outrun an extensive power outage.
Patrick said his family lost power in 1992 during Hurricane Andrew for several weeks.
“It’s just nearly impossible to have the kids in the house without power for that long,” Erin added.
With 3-month-old twins, Kyle and Kloey, 1-year-old Carter and 3-year-old Ethan, and 5-year-old nephew, Beau Chiasson, Erin said packing was a hassle. Past hurricane experience, Erin said, has helped her streamline preparations.
“I knew I needed to make a list for everyone and what each person would need,” she said.
The family is at the Isle of Capri Hotel until at least Friday, and Patrick said it is tough being away from the rest of their family still in Morgan City.
“I’m worried because when their power goes out, they won’t have cell phones, and we’re not right there with them,” he said.
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LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Erin Adams holds her 3-month-old daughter Kloey as her twin brother Kyle sleeps in one of the two cribs set up in their Isle of Capri hotel room Tuesday afternoon. Erin and her husband Patrick evacuated their family from Morgan City in anticipation of Hurricane Isaac.
The kids, though, are making the best of it. Beau and Ethan sat on the bed in the hotel room Tuesday afternoon and played on a Gameboy and divided up fish and dinosaur toys to trade back and forth.
Patrick and M.J. put away groceries and blew up an air mattress while Erin tended to the babies.
Patrick recalled hurricanes Ike, Gustav, Rita and Katrina and said hurricanes are something with which coastal residents simply learn to deal.
“It’s pretty much a fact of life,” he said. “Having gone through other hurricanes, you know what you should do to prepare, and I am hoping we can just ride this one out here in Natchez.”
The family is one of dozens who have filled Miss-Lou hotels to ride out the storms.
No out-of-town evacuees are currently being housed at area shelters.