Alabama and the Oil Spill: One Family’s Story
The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is wreaking widespread environmental havoc. But there’s a very personal chaos playing out in thousands of homes up and down the coastline. The oil spill has put many people out of work, and as WBHM’s Tanya Ott reports many families are being forced to rethink their financial lives.
It’s Friday morning and Tracy Thrasher quietly scrambles to make the beds in a vacation home in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Tourists are in town for a music festival and they need somewhere to stay.
“I’m doing a rush job because they’re already here and they’re wanting to rent the house, so I have to run in and try to get it as clean as I can.”
Tracy’s just happy to have the work. She cleans vacation rental homes, but since the oil rig exploded last month, tourists have been canceling their vacations all the way through July. Tracy’s worked just two days in the last three weeks. Her income has gone from $800 a week to just $100. Her husband Kelly is a building contractor who depends on vacation rentals for most of his business. He says their financial well is running dry.
“Normally this time of year I’m working seven days a week around the clock. You know. And just like today I get a half a day. It’s just not happening. People ain’t coming.”
And they may not for a while.
“I and you both know right now there’s no oil on these beaches. You know. But the people’s not here. How do you tell them that there’s no oil on the beaches? I mean, you can’t. They don’t believe it.”
The Thrashers can’t believe their bad luck. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan’s high winds and surf devastated this part of Alabama. Hurricane Katrina hit the following year. And before the region had time to recover, Tracy Thrasher says they were hit with a third stroke of bad luck: the mortgage crisis.
“Most definitely stress, stress all the way around.”
Insurance companies delayed their payments to people whose homes were damaged in the Hurricanes. That, along with the housing crash, meant Kelly couldn’t find much work. The Thrashers burned through $12,000 in savings in just a few years. Tracy took a job cleaning rental homes this spring. Sometimes Kelly helps out.
“Extra cash, we need more money with the economy the way it is, nobody’s doing any construction work, so we figured we’d start cleaning houses.”
Kelly sold his two precious motorcycles. Tracy loved going to the movies. They don’t anymore. They started renting videos, but the only place in town recently closed. The Thrashers have also sliced and diced the food budget.
“Instead of spending $100 for the week you go and spend $40 for the week. Sandwiches instead of steaks!”
Emily, their fourth grade daughter, is a voracious reader. She loves Japanese comic books called Manga. She used to feed her addiction with frequent visits to Books a Million. But now she has to rely on the library.
“It feels kind of sad because there’s like this one Manga that I really want to have, but I can’t have it. They don’t have Mangas in the library at school.”
“Oh, it’s soo hard!” says Tracy Thrasher. “How do you explain to a 9 year old that we need to cut back?”
“Uh, I’m sorry,” she says with a sigh. “Allowance maybe next week.”
Or maybe not, since there is nothing to fall back on. Kelly Thrasher has always been self-employed and never saved for retirement. “Those are things for rich corporate-type people”, he says.
Applying to British Petroleum for reimbursement of lost income won’t help much. BP wants two years worth of tax returns, but Tracy’s only been cleaning houses for a few months. And Kelly? Well, he admits he does a lot of work for cash.
“I guess you pull out the newspaper and start looking for another job!”
Kelly’s already lined up a job 300 miles north in Birmingham. It’s a quick, one-time gig that pays a couple thousand dollars. But subtract the gas and a motel for him and his crew, and Kelly says there will be little left over.
This tragedy in the Gulf may prompt some families to change their financial lives. But for this family, and probably many others, that’s just not possible.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
