LIANE HANSEN, host:

Hurricane Katrina changed the face of Waveland, Mississippi, where last year's storms destroyed more than 90 percent of the town's homes and businesses. The enormous task of rebuilding attracted scores of Mexican workers.

NPR's Rolando Arrieta discovered that those workers have found a small home away from home on the roadside.

ROLANDO ARRIETA reporting:

Before heading off to work, Mario Avila eats a hearty meal at Lucio's Mundo Latino. It's a small shop tucked away in a weathered building in Waveland.

Mr. MARIO AVILA (Construction Worker): (Through translator) We come here to eat Mexican food and to drink something refreshing. When we eat here we don't miss Mexico as much.

ARRIETA: Avila is from Mexico City. He moved to Waveland to work, and for the past 11 months he's been gutting and rebuilding houses along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He gobbles down a large bowl of Menudo, or tripe stew with tortillas.

Mr. JULIO RAMIREZ (Construction Worker): (Foreign language spoken)

ARRIETA: Avila's co-worker, Julio Ramirez, is also new to Waveland. He came from Vera Cruz, Mexico and says they enjoy Lucio's because they feel like they're back home. They can watch Spanish language TV and buy food products made in Mexico.

Mr. RAMIREZ: (Foreign language spoken)

(Soundbite of laughter)

ARRIETA: I like tortillas, beans and soft drinks. And since most of us don't speak English very well, we hang out here with other Mexicans, he says.

Mr. LUCIO CANO: (Owner, Lucio's Mundo Latino): (Foreign language spoken)

ARRIETA: Lucio Cano owns Mundo Latino. He lived in the coastal town of Pass Christian, Mississippi and owned a Mexican restaurant there. Hurricane Katrina swept away both, leaving him with nothing. So the entrepreneur moved into a FEMA trailer in Waveland and came up with this new business idea.

Mr. CANO: And we started this business because I could see the Spanish community must moving to this area, especially in the construction business, and (unintelligible) I come up with a deal to open up this Latin store to serve my people.

ARRIETA: Mundo Latino is the first Latin American food store in the Waveland and Bay St. Louis area. Business is steady so Cano is already expanding his services.

Mr. CANO: I have something like a Western Union, phone cards, telephones, and food.

ARRIETA: Prepared foods and a little warm food, too. Cooking has been Cano's passion for more than 25 years. So he assembled a makeshift kitchen in the back of the store. There's one pot, a couple of spatulas and a two-burner electrical stove.

Mr. CANO: I never cook in those electrical burners in my life. We don't have no gas. We're on the waiting list. In the meantime we have to do whatever we can.

ARRIETA: Cano says it'll take three weeks, maybe more, before the city turns on the gas. Once that happens he can cook on a larger, industrial stove. He says his customers, after a long day of tree topping, sheet rocking and roofing, crave typical Mexican dishes.

Mr. CANO: Oh, they want to eat (unintelligible) enchiladas, fajitas (unintelligible). You can cook those plates in those electrical grills.

ARRIETA: Lucio, it's starting to smell really good. What are you cooking?

Mr. CANO: I think it's some - we cooking some chicken. This is a sauce we cooking right now (unintelligible)

ARRIETA: He says the chicken will be ready by noon. That's when he expects the first wave of hungry laborers rebuilding the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

ARRIETA: Rolando Arrieta, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.