countless livelihoods disappeared, too. nearly 130,000 jobs were lost around new orleans alone, as businesses crumpled and their owners fled. i was born and raised here. reporter: matt wisdom stood firm. it wasn t clear we could return to anything that we had known before. reporter: what made you decide to stay? we just decided, you know, we can t be away from it. this is the time. either come and make it work or leave and find a new life. reporter: now, where are we now? we are in the headquarters office in new orleans. reporter: but matt s fledgling company, turbo quid, which sells 3d computer models for movies and commercials and even on cnn, faced the same problems hundreds others did, the town s transportation, infrastructure, and basic civic services were in shambles. no one business or even hundreds of them could do anything about