Well, let me start out by saying to my friends and family that I'm doing well. For those of you who don't visit Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) as often as I do, Beaumont was bombarded by Hurricane Ike. It landed in Southeast Texas about Friday. Luckily, I left Wednesday night, so I made it out easily.
Beaumont had already suffered in 2006 from Hurricane Rita. Besides the seven direct deaths and 120 total deaths, the region was affected greatly. That was the first huge hurricane to strike and the people weren't prepared for it. Many businesses didn't return to the area, and many others suffered because of the damage and the decreased business afterwards.
However, Hurricane Ike hit me personally, unlike Rita. I was in my third week of school when I got the call to leave. Like many others, I didn't think it was going to be "that big of a deal," but I made sure to get any irreplaceable items out. However, it turned out to be much worse. Many towns around the Beaumont area, such as Port Arthur and Orange, are practically underwater. Lamar University did seem to sustain some damage, and there were reports of flooding and tornadoes in Beaumont. Houston was also flooded badly.
The Boyfriend and I came to Austin, like many other evacuees. I am not living in one of the shelters hastily made for the thousands of people leaving Southeast Texas, but I hear them to be slightly uncomfortable. Not everyone has a cot; children don't have toys or entertainment. (Many people complain about this, but the Red Cross is trying to get better accomodations to everyone as soon as possible. It takes some time, and everyone does have a roof over their head and food. The sick have medical treatment. There haven't been reports of crime.)
Austin, the city, has tried to make life as comfortable as possible for these refugees. For example, all of the museums in the town were free on Saturday, so many refugees could take their families to get free entertainment. UT also postponed their football game to alleviate traffic coming into the city. I, personally, have been greeted with more empathy and kindness than I probably deserve, as I've been replacing some documents that I left in my dorm at school. Overall, with some small exceptions, the evacuees have been treated with empathy and have been helped to the best of the city's abilities.
I don't know when I'm returning to school, but the estimate is two to three weeks.
1 comment:
It can certainly be rough, though I'm glad you're coming out of it okay so far. There were jokes about you receiving warm welcomings by the likes of Southeast Texas's notorious hurricanes, but who knew it would actually come and with such force. It's almost surreal.
At least the country is adapting and recovering from the aftermath of Gustav and Ike a lot better than Katrina or Rita. I guess it has something to do with those terrible two's. As things start coming back together, I hope that a better image and depiction of Beaumont will be delivered to you.
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