Real Estate Disasters: A Post Katrina Survival Guide for

Survival Guide for Natural Disasters. Natural disasters seem to be happening more frequently in the U.S. than ever before. The aftermath of these catastrophes lead to billions of dollars in property damage and sometimes hundreds of thousands of people left homeless. A case in point is New Orleans, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, a process that is taking longer than anyone anticipated. For apartment owners and tenants who were caught in a web of antiquated regulations that became obsolete in the storm s wreckage, the emotional and financial cost was perhaps the highest. Owners not only had to deal with destroyed buildings, but also with the tenants belongings that were left behind as they ran for their lives. Some tenants didn t return. Were they dead? Relocated? Now, Tammy Frosch Esponge, New Orleans resident and apartment industry expert, reveals the dilemmas, paradoxes and challenges faced by rental property owners and their tenants.