Displaced in Texas

[S10xGN]

Hi all.. I am Russ's sister..he asked me to let you all know that his town was evacuated for Hurricane Rita and he still has not been able to return home. Although his home did not sustain obvious damage, he remains unable to return at this point. He does not have computer access, but plans on logging on to talk to you all as soon as he has the capability!! Bye from Barbe.!!

 

[Shane]

It's good to hear that he's okay. Make sure to send well wishes from the entire board.

 

[ES1]

I was wondering if he and his rides came through ok.
Heard from a friend in Beaumont this week and he and his car are ok.

 

[Razor]

Let Russ know I wish him the best and good luck getting things back together again.

I just realized he was in Port Neches..

Julio

 

[T4Texas]

I was wondering how he was doing too. I'm originally from that area and will be moving back after I retire from the Army next Spring. My family (mom, sis, bro, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.) are all in the same boat as Russ... houses are ok but still can't go home.

 

[JoelGN]

Hey Russ, glad to hear you evacuated safely and your home was not severely damaged. I only had a few shingles blown off. The GN was unscathed. My son and I, along with some friends, partied in Marshall for a week and enjoyed the "vacation". The tree and utility crews have done a super job working out in the heat to clear the streets and restore power. I hope you cleaned out your refrigerator. Mine was so bad I had to replace it because the smell of rotten fish/shrimp wouldn't go away even after cleaning with clorox/water and airing out for a week. Electricity was returned to Beaumont first. Hopefully, mid-county will be next. Thanks for letting us all know how you're doing. Joel

 

[S10xGN]

I'm baaaack!

All I can say is I hope that never happens again! We evacuated to my brother-in-law's fish camp on Toledo Bend reservoir (120 miles north) and things were actually worse there. His 100 x 120 lot had 5 trees come down, 2 on the cabin. Luckily, the big one got hung up in another tree that prevented it from piercing the roof. When the tree hit (04:30 am), it felt like the cabin got knocked off the piers. But we had five cars in the driveway and all were untouched! Power was out from Sat 09-24 until 10-04 with temps in the 90's. Ever try sleeping in a 93 degree room? We got a generator Sun night, but it wouldn't run the A/C. At least we had some fans and a microwave. We had to drive another 120 miles north to Marshall to get gas and cell phone service every other day. No phone, no cable, no papers...we had no idea what was happening other than about 3 hours a day of radio before that faded out.

Found out last night we finally got electricity at home and we returned this morning for good. We had come back twice before to survey damages and clean the fridge, but it's good to be home permanently. Damage here was light - mainly fences, maybe a dozen shingles, a gutter, and one funky, nasty pool. I've got "stuff" in the bottom that I can't see (yet) but it's big! I'll get pix up somewhere and post the site.

Joel, I wish I'd have known you were in Marshall! We liked that area and will go there next time (if there is a next time!)

Later,