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February 5, 2006Mission to Moss PointKatrina fails to derail dreamCoffee shop plans ride the storm outPASCAGOULA, Miss. - Not even Hurricane Katrina could derail Paul Henriet's plans to open a coffee shop.The Kalkaska native expected to sign the lease on property for Dough Joe's Kolache and Coffee Cafe the day Katrina hit. The site changed, but not his vision. "We were looking at a building over on U.S. 90, but it was too badly damaged after the storm," he said. "This is the only building on this block that didn't flood." The cozy, family-run cafe opened just before Christmas in an old house on Jackson Avenue in Pascagoula. Patrons enjoy freshly baked pastries and a cup of joe on comfortable couches in front of a television or at a table with wireless Internet access. Dough Joe's has become a haven of sorts for residents seeking refuge from the daily challenges of hurricane recovery. "A lot of people come sit here because they get that home feeling," Henriet said. "Our favorite customers are living with their four kids in a FEMA trailer." Henriet said the post-Katrina grand opening didn't hamper business. "Getting the traffic is easy," he said. "It's finding the help that's hard." Henriet and his wife Tammy run Dough Joe's with help from his seven children. He said it's tough competing for workers when even fast food restaurant chains offer signing bonuses to lure applicants who receive FEMA assistance. Henriet's family moved to Mississippi in 1998 with his job with BP, an oil and gas company. Hurricane Georges hit six months after they arrived. "We didn't know about hurricanes," he said. "We only knew snow." The Henriets evacuated before Georges, but they holed up with their children's families during Katrina at their house in Vancleave, Miss., about 18 miles northwest of Pascagoula. The couple's house sustained minor damage, primarily from high winds, but Katrina wiped out their son Steven's house in Gulfport. He now lives with his family in a FEMA trailer in his parents' back yard. Henriet said the atmosphere in Pascagoula is finally starting to return to normal. "We're real lucky," he said. "It's going to be years before things are the same."
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