Man Hit Twice By Katrina Claims $97 Million Jackpot
Posted on: Friday, 9 May 2008, 09:00 CDT
A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize Thursday, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk.
When he turned in the winning ticket, Carl Hunter became the largest Powerball winner in Louisiana's history. He won the jackpot in January, but the 73-year-old small-businessman waited nearly four months to claim the prize.
An avid lottery player, Hunter said he already had bought a Powerball ticket on Jan. 16 at the gas station less than two blocks from his home in Metairie, a New Orleans suburb. But he stopped at the station again that day to buy milk - at the request of his wife, Dianne - and got a second quick- pick ticket.
"It's all about milk," his wife said, smiling.
The couple, surrounded by cameras, was decidedly low-key about the multimillion-dollar win, saying they didn't have specific plans for the money - besides retirement and the rebuilding of a camp lost to Katrina .
Hunter took a lump-sum payment that will give him $33.9 million after taxes, according to lottery officials.
Source: Virginian - Pilot
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