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Southeast Texas and Mauriceville

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In Mauriceville trees and power lines are down everywhere. The Volunteer Fire Department estimates 5 percent of homes have a fallen tree on them. It estimates 1 percent of homes have trees inside of them.

On a personal note:
September 26, 2005

My husband has been able to reach our home in Mauriceville. Trees and power lines are down all over. There is NO water, sewer, electricity, or fuel available in the area. Many homes have damage from trees and others were OK. My home has trees down all around but no damage. For those of you that know Mauriceville, the feed store has collapsed, part of Ben’s Tire is gone, and Market Basket looks OK. The trees are down at the First United Methodist Church and the First Baptist was a shelter. FEMA is working from Mauriceville Middle School.

Chainsaws are needed for cutting trees. If you plan to return to the area, please come prepared. Home Depot in Orange is open.

September 27, 2005

Woodville, Orange, Beaumont, Orangefield and Mauriceville continue to be without power, as my husband went through that area at night and they are dark. People were not allowed in the Nederland and Port Arthur area... Orangefield high school has been heavily damaged. Livingston does have power and fuel.

News from Lousiana:

The mayors of the Louisiana towns of Sulphur and Vinton pleaded with residents to stay away until the sewage systems could be repaired, power could be turned on and hospitals and emergency services could be restored. Vinton Mayor David Riggins begged people over the radio not to return home yet because it was straining the food and water supplies he needed for fire, police and emergency crews.

Authorities said at least 16 Texas oil refineries remained shut because of Rita. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont were without power, and a second Port Arthur refinery was damaged and could remain out of service for two to four weeks.

September 28, 2005

My husband and son returned to the area, they were able to get into Mauriceville; they were stopped and questioned, but allowed to pass. They met the worker at the vet in Buna where they were able to get our pets that were boarded there. Buna is without power. We had asked if they needed anything at the vet and all they asked for is batteries for flashlights, so we took some to them. They said that a truck with water and food came and the supplies were quickly gone. Many people in that area did not evacuate. Some land phone lines are working, but cell service is spotty at best.

Our mobile home had a tree on the back, but no damage from it. The business near the Mauriceville community center had damage, but the Sonic and Dance school looked OK.

My husband has a job in Hackberry (he works on tug boats) so I will have some info about that area. It seems that the situation over SE Texas and SW Louisiana seems to be the same, trees down, some homes damaged.

On the way to Bridge City there are mobile homes with roofs missing and some overturned. Pizza Hut in Bridge City has extensive damage, Market Basket has roof damage, High School looks to be in good shape but press box at the football stadium is “torn UP” according to my son. The apartments on the main street have damage.

Houston Dish Network has ERIN Emergency Response Information Network, with lists of phone numbers and information; they are starting to add Rita info. Disaster Recovery Centers have been set up at the 1st Baptist Church on Caulder in Beaumont (8AM-7PM) and the Civic Center in Port Arthur is open on Tuesday and Thursday (8-7) no phone numbers listed for the centers. So check to see if that channel is available in your area.

Mauriceville has water, but has to be boiled to used for drinking.

The Texas Department of Health says under a boil water alert, residents should boil their water vigorously for at least 2 minutes. For those who do not like the flat taste of boiled water, aeration is key. This can be achieved by simply transferring the water back and forth from one container to another.

It is not necessary to boil water when using it for external uses including showering and washing your hands. Officials say residents must boil their water until further notice from the city of Beaumont

Food Safety info 1-888-674-6854

Pauline Hargrove, Superintendent of Little Cypress-Mauriceville schools has spoken to a Texas Education Agency (TEA) official who said that districts will be given ten free days (days that do not have to be made up) due to school closures because of Hurricane Rita. When she asked if more days could be given due to cities not having utilities, she was told that each request will be considered on a case-by-case basis. TEA will issue a release addressing school closures due to Hurricane Rita in the next few days. A determination on LCM schools reopening will be announced at a later date. District official do not recommend enrolling students in districts where they are sheltering at this time.

October 2,2005

We have returned home, we are running a generator (fuel costs about 40 dollars a day) that will run our refrigerator, two small room air conditioners and a few lights, and best of all, my computer. I can connect to the internet via dial up through a Beaumont number.

Kroger, Walmart and Home Depot in Orange are open, as well as the convience store by the Post Office in Mauriceville. The stores are only open a short time each day and some limit the number of customers in them. They also do not have any cold food that needs refrigeration as they are also on generators. The Orange Leader put out a Sunday paper. Water and ice is being passed out by the National Guard at Tuffys. Hot meals are available at the First Baptist Church.
It is great to be home!

October 4, 2005

Today I did a little investigating, went to Vidor to check on a home there, thankfully it was OK… but house next to it was destroyed. Vidor has some power, traffic lights are working. Woods Grocery Store, Subway, Sonic and Wal-Mart were open… but you had to line up at Wal-Mart and only a few people allowed in at a time. Sonic had only water to drink and limited menu, but it was packed.

In Mauriceville we still only have the one store open and no power. I am trying to add the pictures I have taken of our area as quickly as I can, but have slow dial up and things just don’t go as fast as I would like.

People are working to clear yards … piles of debris along the road. One home had a logging crew in removing downed trees.

I have posted photos of Bridge City, Vidor and more of Mauriceville.

Went by the Grace Bible Fellowship Church on Hwy 12 today where Westgate Community Friends Church from Surprise Arizona was giving out supplies, they had food, toiletries, toys, clothing, baby food and formula and other items… and as you left you were given a 10.00 Target gift card… I cried… it is so moving to see the number of people who have traveled so far with so much to help us recover.

October 7, 2005

I just found out that my home now has power, thanks to a crew from Alabama… the lineman told me that he had worked Katrina and we (our area) were hit worse… and that the people here were so much nicer. He said he got shot at in Mississippi and had his windshield blown out. I am so surprised that we have power restored as we had been told that it would take another week… the crews have been working so hard and there aren’t enough words to thank them. Now we have to get our yard cleared so my dad can come home. My husband has stayed so busy; we have not done any work on getting the downed limbs and trees removed.

In Beaumont things are quickly being restored, although some places like Target are going to be closed a while, others like Sams, Wal-Mart, Conns, Best Buy and many others are open. Many restaurants are open, but they are really packed. Supplies are arriving daily and stores are getting stocked.

In Vidor things are better, today I was able to go to Superior Tire and get my tire repaired. Main Street was busy and numerous businsesses were open. Still doctor’s offices seemed to be closed and many smaller businesses are closed.

I did see so many places with substantial damage; I have a few photos I want to add…so check out the site tomorrow as will probably add another picture page tomorrow morning.

I talked to a woman today who didn’t evacuate in time and ended up spending the night in a large home in the area, she said, NEVER again… it was awful, it was not worth it! Surely anyone looking at the damage would realize how blessed we all were to be able to leave and thereby not having the loss of life that there was in New Orleans. I just know we will always have an evacuation plan in place and will leave early. .

The disaster center at Tuffy’s closes tonight, water in Mauriceville is now safe to drink. I thanked each worker that I talked to… Navaho Indians from Arizona….they said they were happy to help.

Here is some news from the LCM site:

Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Superintendent, Pauline Hargrove, has announced a meeting for administrators on Wednesday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m. in the LCM Administrative Building. Teachers will meet on their individual campuses on Thursday and Friday, October 13 and 14 at 8:00 a.m. The projected starting date for students is Monday, October 17. The October Board of Trustees meeting has been moved from Monday, October 10 to Monday, October 17 at 6:30 p.m. Students scheduled to be recognized at this month's Board meeting who cannot attend on the rescheduled date will be recognized at the November meeting.

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I also have a lung cancer information site,
Lung Cancer Information, Stories and More.

Thank you,
Christine

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Date last Edited
10-7-2005