Charley hits immigrants especially hard

[ringmastery]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/news/epaper/2004/08/17/m1a_CHARLEY_ISLAND_0817.html

PINE ISLAND — Ramiro Loredo started with nothing when he came from Mexico two decades ago.

He picked tomatoes on this small island in southwest Florida, staying in a trailer owned by a farm company. After 14 years of work, he and his wife, Guadalupe Martinez, saved enough to buy a $6,000 home in the Pink Citrus Trailer Park.

When the hurricane came, their home lifted into the air and thudded to the ground, a neighbor said. The roof and walls ripped away. Nothing was left, Martinez said: "Nada, nada, nada."

A neighbor shows Guadalupe Martinez, 46, a family photo found in the wreckage of her trailer on Pine Island Monday. Martinez has lived there for 20 years.

"Twenty years of work," Loredo said.