http://sweetwaterreporter.com/articles/2005/09/24/news/news.txt
Sweetwater ready to help
By Ben Barkley/Reporter Managing Editor
The Sweetwater community got the call and the residents re-sponded.
As Hurricane Rita was storming to the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana and
Texas, Sweet-water Emergency Services Di-rector Jerry Huffman
received a call from the state stating that evacuees were heading to
town. He immediately put a plan into motion and the waiting game
began.
At press time Saturday, no evacuees were in the shelters established
at Lamar Street Baptist Church and First Baptist Church.
Sweetwater Police Depart-ment Lt. Randy Haynes re-ceieved a phone
call around 1 a.m. Saturday. The result of the call said that the
buses carrying the evacuees were out of gas and stopped for the night.
Huffman said he did not know for sure if evacuees would come to
Sweetwater. Police did stop one bus that was heading to Midland early
Saturday morning.
Haynes said the city is still expecting evacuees, but just did not
know when.
Despite the fact that the evacuees have not arrived, city officials
were pleased with the turnout from the community. Through the efforts
of several people, Sweetwater was ready to help.
At the Lamar Street shelter, cots were set up early and volunteers
were ready to sign the evacuees in.
"We have a great group of people," Huffman said.
Sweetwater Chief of Police Jim Kelley echoed the comments.
"This just shows we have some great people in this town," he
said. "They are able to re-spond to any need."
Kelley said the town has been through this type of situation, but not
to this magnitude.
"Many of us have lived through some pretty bad situations. We have
well trained, well qualified people," he said.
Sweetwater-Nolan County Health Department Director Don Ware said the
people of the town are ready to help.
"This has been a rapid response that has come together well," he
said. "I know we will be able to do (whatever is needed to take care
of the evacuees). Everybody is so giving and willing to help."
Huffman said local residents can continue to help with monetary
donations. The city has established a plan that will be reimbursed by
the government of all its money.
"Any monetary donations by local citizens would help us," he said.
Sweetwater City Commissioner Glenn Wortham said the city met with
county, health department, hospital and other officials to discuss
the plan of action.
"Everyone was ready to help," he said.
Wortham said the food for the evacuees has been coordinated and the
hospital is ready if medical needs become a concern.
"This just shows when we need to work together, it works like a
charm," Wortham said.
While the city was awaiting evacuees, some people from South Texas
and Southwest Louisiana have already arrived in Sweetwater.
Bill Rice of Cold Springs traveled to DeRidder, La., which is located
45 miles north of Lake Charles, La., to pick up his mother, Kate.
They then began traveling north and stopped in Ruston, La., which is
located about one hour from Shreveport on I-20.
Rice called his brother, Tim, who works on the windfarms in Nolan
County. When his brother and son-in-law learned of his location, they
told him to head to Sweetwater.
"We did not hit any traffic," he said. "We pulled over to sleep for a
little while. We really appreciate our family for their help."
Bill was already making plans to return to his home and will be
looking in the area for a generator because he knows that the power
will be out when he gets back home.
Local motels have been booked for the past two days.
The Garcia family from Port Arthur is among the many families staying
at local hotels. The family of 15 and one puppy traveled all night to
arrive in Sweetwater.
At one point during their "adventure," Sylvia Garcia said they
stopped and slept on the sidewalk in front of a lawyer's office.
They plan to stay in the area until the storm passes and officials
clear the area for residents to return.
Hurricane Rita slammed into Texas and Louisiana early Saturday,
smashing windows, sparking fires and knocking power out to more than
1 million customers, but largely sparing vulnerable Houston and
already reeling New Orleans.
Rita made landfall at 2:30 a.m. as a Category 3 storm just east of
Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana line, bringing top winds of 120
mph and warnings of up to 25 inches of rain, the National Hurricane
Center said. Within four hours it had weakened to a Category 2 storm,
with top winds of 100 mph, as it moved further inland between
Beaumont and Jasper.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities, or any detailed word
on damage to the area's vast oil refinery industry, though rescuers
and search teams in many areas had to wait for winds to subside
before venturing out.
About 3 million people had fled a 500-mile stretch of the Texas-
Louisiana coast ahead of the storm, motivated in part by the
devastating toll that Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans and
other parts of the Gulf Coast barely three weeks ago.
Radar estimates put Rita's rainfall so far at 4-10 inches, with the
highest totals in Texas' Jasper and Newton counties, meteorologist
Mark McInerney said, and there was a lingering threat of flooding due
to an expected 2 feet of rain in some areas.
The storm spun off tornadoes as it churned northwest, causing
transformers to explode. In Jasper County, north of Beaumont, a house
with seven people inside floated in floodwaters after it came off its
foundation, said sheriff's communications supervisor Alice Duckworth.
But the flood-prone cities of Houston and Galveston -- largely
evacuated over the past four days -- escaped a direct hit.
"So far, Houston is weathering the storm," Mayor Bill White said
Saturday. His police department received 28 burglary calls overnight
and made 16 arrests -- less than a typical Friday night, White said.
In New Orleans, rain drenched parts of the abandoned city early
Saturday, straining the levee system already damaged by Katrina. But
the forecast of up to three inches throughout the day was less than
had been previously predicted.
Sweetwater TX, ready with Shelter
