All the snow has turned to water, but the storm's effects are longer lasting than the icy sidewalks and sneauxmen.
Many local businesses, restaurants especially, are continuing to deal with the aftermath.
I interviewed Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of Drago’s Seafood, and he explained that many local restaurants are having a hard time getting back on their feet.
Cvitanovich explains, “Most of the restaurateurs that I'm close to are small independents—regular guys. This was a tough hit for restaurants, to be closed that many days. Our employees are mostly work off of tips and hourly wages… So it's tough on our employees. I don't want to say it's something that we're used to, but it's part of the fabric of our business. And you wait for the good days, like this weekend and this coming Super Bowl week. And, you know, you reap the benefits when you have the good and you take it on the chin when you're closed for 3 or 4 days.”
However, while the snow certainly served as a setback, Cvitanovich explains the recovery from winter storm Enzo isn’t nearly as bad as other events that have hit the Gulf South. “You know, it's not like Katrina," he explains. "It's not like the BP oil spill, where it affected us for four months, if not years. This is something that affected us for 2 or 3 days. And then just like everything else in New Orleans, we're going to take the gut punch and we're going to be fine and and move forward.
At this point Dragos is up and running and looking forward to the months ahead.
Cvitanovich even explained how there's a small silver lining resulting from the cold weather in terms of oyster quality.
“It makes oysters better," says Drago's owner. "That's the good thing about saltwater and cold water. Cold saltwater makes the oysters better. So that's the good actually, that's the really good news about our oysters. And we're getting ready January, February, and March into April. That's the best time of year for oysters. And with the water being as cold as it is, you know, there hasn't been a whole lot of rain. So they're really good right now and they're going to get better.”