From PEOPLE Magazine
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648 miles from New Orleans
As Kevin and Michelle Johnson (above right, with their kids) see it, the upheaval in their lives from the storm may prove to be a blessing in disguise. "In New Orleans we struggled," says Michelle, 27, who had never been out of the city until she and Kevin, 37, an unemployed roofer, were evacuated with their five small children to Boynton Beach, Fla., on Sept. 4. "I'm on disability, and Kevin couldn't find work," she says. Now housed at the Palm Meadows Thoroughbred-training facility, where they have been given donated clothes, shoes and toys and been warmly treated by volunteers, they sense a chance to get a do-over in their lives. "Being here, in this place, is beautiful," says Michelle. "We're not going back to New Orleans; there's nothing for us to go back to. We have a chance to start a whole new life here."
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
1,043 miles from New Orleans
Call it northern hospitality. When Stacey and Harold Bruno (far right) fled New Orleans with their two kids, they picked up her sister's family and drove until they hit her parents' Minneapolis home. There Greg Lawrence (center), a local businessman who heard about their plight on television, invited the family to live rent-free for a year in a home he owns—and they quickly accepted. On top of that, other residents dropped off a bunk bed and snow suits for the children and even left a 27-in. television. With their place back home likely destroyed, Stacey, 27, who worked for the New Orleans police department, and Harold, 31, a construction worker, may become Midwesterners themselves. "Everyone here," says Stacey, "has been so kind."
SYRACUSE, N.Y
1,175 miles from New Orleans
Four years ago Nicole Morales (near left), 17, who grew up in New Orleans, and Lauren Levine, from outside Syracuse, got to be close friends while attending summer camp together. With Nicole and her mother, Christine (far left), marooned in Memphis in the wake of the hurricane, the Levines asked if Nicole would come live with them for her senior year of high school. "Nicole is very goal-oriented," says Lauren's mom, Pamela. "College is very important to her." It didn't take Nicole long to decide to take them up. "My whole world has flipped in the last seven days," she says. "Everything I've ever known is gone." Now she is preparing for a new experience, including the biting Syracuse winters. "My plan is to get her settled and buy her a winter coat," says Pamela. "She's only seen snow once."
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