Steamboat Natchez Hurricane Katrina Info for Employees


From: Gordon Stevens To: All New Orleans Steamboat Employees 9/21/05 Dear Steamboat Family, I have a lot to report to everyone. Each day gets better, things are improving and I know that we will be back in New Orleans soon with the Natchez and the John James Audubon to proudly start up our business again at the Toulouse Street wharf. The boats are still in Port Allen, Louisiana. The city of Baton Rouge has generously opened their doors and hearts to the evacuees, but city services, hotels, and the city’s infrastructure is taxed to its limits. We will not be able to do any business here because there is no passenger vessel dock available that would be suitable. We are now focused and determined to return to New Orleans…… as soon as the city gives people and businesses the green light to return. Meanwhile we are setting up sales staff and others at the Westwego Swamp Adventures office until the World Trade Center offices are ready. The WTC office sustained one broken window and some minor damage. The WTC hopes to open in about two weeks. We will also begin cleaning up the Toulouse Street Wharf and the warehouse soon. If the city officials allow it we will sail the Natchez back to New Orleans on October 1st and try to start at least some sort of cruise schedule on Monday October 3rd. If these dates do not work out then we will return as soon as the city allows us to following those dates. We will call people back to work as we reestablish and as people are needed. This week we will be issuing one week of vacation pay to all those who are eligible. I hope that you and your families are all well. I pray for you and yours each day. Please keep me and the Steamboat Company in your prayers too. We are trying our very best, knowing that the best thing we can do for all of our wonderful Steamboat Family members is to return to New Orleans and get back into business. Let us know where you are. If you are in serious need please let us know the circumstances so that the New Orleans Steamboat Company Employees’ Relief fund can help. God bless you all, Gordon Stevens From: Gordon Stevens To: All New Orleans Steamboat Employees 9/12/05 Dear Steamboat Family, Please send us all your new and updated telephone numbers and addresses. If you have heard from any other New Orleans Steamboat, Grayline or Westwego Swamp Adventures employees, please send us their new contact information as well. We are trying hard to start up a business here in Baton Rouge with the Natchez and the John James Audubon. The boats are in Baton Rouge safe and undamaged. It will take some time to start the business here because the dock we need to use is near the Centroplex Convention Center which is housing a large number of evacuees. The business we may be able to do here in Baton Rouge is a small percentage of what it was in New Orleans. We are determined to return to New Orleans as soon as possible. We firmly believe New Orleans, especially the tourist and hospitality industry, will come back strong and come back soon. On Saturday September 10, Steve Nicoulin, Don Houghton, Juan Mendevil, Ken LaPorte and others went to the Toulouse Street Wharf to get their vehicles that had been parked there since the hurricane. Amazingly, power was already on at the light house. The canvas canopy, picture boards, fans and canopy electrical system were destroyed, but the wharf in total only sustained minimal damage. As we try to rebuild the Steamboat Company business temporarily in Baton Rouge then back in New Orleans, we will gradually call people back to work. If you are in Baton Rouge or a nearby area, it will obviously be easier for you to come in when we call. The work may be only part-time and pay rates may need to change. In the meantime, it would be advisable to file for unemployment compensation. We are paying the Blue Cross and other premiums through October 31, 2005, and will pay beyond that point if possible. We will try to address the vacation pay issue in the near future. Please call us at 504-587-0722 or write to New Orleans Steamboat Company, 715 St. Ferdinand Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802. All of us and our families have been through some very hard times, and our sufferings will continue for a time. We must all try our best, offering it all up to God, and praying in thanksgiving that we and our loved ones are alive and safe. All that really matters is the love of our families, and we must have faith that God will help us rebuild our lives and the New Orleans Steamboat Company. I am praying and looking forward to the day when the Natchez and the John James Audubon can cruise back down the Mississippi River with the calliope playing, where we can all be united in the home we all love … New Orleans! God Bless you and your families. Gordon Stevens From: Gordon Stevens To: All New Orleans Steamboat Employees 9/12/05 Dear Steamboat Family, Bill Dow and I are trying to establish a relief fund called “New Orleans Steamboat Company’s Employees Relief Fund.” The funds we raise will go directly to Steamboat employees who are in need of food, clothing, shelter, medicines and other basic needs. Please send us a description of how you evacuated Hurricane Katrina, what you experienced, where you are now, and what your needs are. Also let us know about any others who were with the company who don’t have access to a computer. We are establishing a small Baton Rouge office at 715 St. Ferdinand St, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. You can reach us by mail at this address. God Bless, Gordon Stevens. Message from Gordon Stevens: We sincerely hope & pray that all of you and your families are safe. We are attempting to set up an office in the Baton Rouge area and hope to have a phone number to give you by early next week. For all of you who are on direct deposit for your pay checks, your check will be deposited by Wednesday. If you are not on direct deposit, please click here and give us the mailing address where we should send your check. NOSC will keep your medical benefits going. Continue to check this page for future updates. The Natchez and JJA are safe in Baton Rouge. The Toulouse St. Wharf sustained minimum damage. The Company will do everything we can to get back in service asap. If you need to contact us, our number is 1-504-587-0722. God Bless all of us. Gordon

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