I consider myself the luckiest of people! I’m blessed with a loving family, wonderful friends and neighbors who are salt of the earth! While the hurricane, Rita, created havoc along the Texas coast, uprooting trees, ripping roofs off houses, demolishing basic community services, and leaving the area uninhabitable, I was enjoying the dry desert mountain air of Arizona.
My first evacuation occurred when Rita was declared a cat 5 hurricane and my son suggested I come to Houston and wait out the hurricane in his apartment. 18 hours later, Houston had to evacuate and I was on the move again. My son evacuated to Austin, but I accepted a cousin’s invitation to visit her in Arizona.
L, (aka Mesa Tessa) owns a mini ranch miles from civilization as we know it. There is no living off the land by patronizing fast food restaurants like Wendy’s, McDonalds, Burger King, or Jack in the Box. She drives ten miles to pick up her mail at a tiny branch post office and thirty miles to Prescott for groceries.
While we watched television coverage of Katrina survivors in New Orleans, the Bush administration finally kicked into gear as the scope of the catastrophe became apparent. As people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds suffered hunger, thirst, and helplessness in the face of death, flood and indignities due to lack of sanitation, I was safe, well fed and enjoyed the comfortable amenities of a modern ranch with every convenience.
Family and neighbors kept me informed by phone and email as conditions at home became known. Thanks to them I have been able to arrange to have the tree on top of the house removed and the roof tarped to prevent further damage. Considering the state of affairs in the devastated area of the gulf coast, I am very lucky to have a house I can still call home!
Even the fact that my car was recently stolen can’t dampen my belief that I am a lucky person. Neighbors continue to keep me apprised of conditions and improvements in town and my family has kept me entertained with excursions, presents and visits with friends. Houses can be repaired, cars can be replaced, but I would truly be lost if I didn’t have such a loving family and caring friends.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Yet Another Problem
It’s been a very interesting time since hurricane Rita ran over my Mom’s town in Texas and it’s not over yet….
Things have been a frustrating trying to get some help for Mrs. B, my Mom. It seems that no one will allow you to file, get copies, forward information, pay the bill or do anything at all with any account unless you are the “owner of record” or are “named on the bill”. It’s probably a good thing from an identity theft point of view, but some of the people I’ve tried to work with definitely have a Catch 22 clause in their work agreements. One company I called would not even let me PAY the bill for Mrs. B without a “coupon from the statement” and would not “forward a copy of the bill” unless “she calls in person” even though she’s an evacuee! However, they did assure me “since her bill is current” they would not cut off the utility… I guess they didn’t GET IT that she’s lucky to have gotten out of town and the town was badly damaged and that no one had any “utilities” to speak of! So, in spite of everyone trying to help, she’s had to do much of the calling and filing and arranging of things herself.
I understand from the neighbors that things are getting back on-line in the town and the services and utilities are back on line. The local radio station web site has stopped blogging detailed information about what’s happening, so we have to rely on information from the neighbors who have already returned after the hurricane.
I can’t say enough good things about Mrs. B’s neighbors, K and B and their son P. They have been really extraordinary in helping us out. In spite of having damage to their own home and having to deal with the results of the hurricane themselves, they have been on the forefront of helping Mrs. B get help, including assisting in getting someone to remove the tree from the house and forwarding important phone numbers and passing on much needed information.
Here’s a picture of the old pecan tree that fell on the house during the hurricane.
Now, just to make life a bit more miserable for her, it seems like someone has stolen her car. But I have to say, her spirit is not daunted one bit. She’s so good at filing reports, that she filed the police report like it was no problem! Of course, no one else could file it for her, not the family or the neighbors because it has to be the “owner of record” of course…
Things have been a frustrating trying to get some help for Mrs. B, my Mom. It seems that no one will allow you to file, get copies, forward information, pay the bill or do anything at all with any account unless you are the “owner of record” or are “named on the bill”. It’s probably a good thing from an identity theft point of view, but some of the people I’ve tried to work with definitely have a Catch 22 clause in their work agreements. One company I called would not even let me PAY the bill for Mrs. B without a “coupon from the statement” and would not “forward a copy of the bill” unless “she calls in person” even though she’s an evacuee! However, they did assure me “since her bill is current” they would not cut off the utility… I guess they didn’t GET IT that she’s lucky to have gotten out of town and the town was badly damaged and that no one had any “utilities” to speak of! So, in spite of everyone trying to help, she’s had to do much of the calling and filing and arranging of things herself.
I understand from the neighbors that things are getting back on-line in the town and the services and utilities are back on line. The local radio station web site has stopped blogging detailed information about what’s happening, so we have to rely on information from the neighbors who have already returned after the hurricane.
I can’t say enough good things about Mrs. B’s neighbors, K and B and their son P. They have been really extraordinary in helping us out. In spite of having damage to their own home and having to deal with the results of the hurricane themselves, they have been on the forefront of helping Mrs. B get help, including assisting in getting someone to remove the tree from the house and forwarding important phone numbers and passing on much needed information.
Here’s a picture of the old pecan tree that fell on the house during the hurricane.Now, just to make life a bit more miserable for her, it seems like someone has stolen her car. But I have to say, her spirit is not daunted one bit. She’s so good at filing reports, that she filed the police report like it was no problem! Of course, no one else could file it for her, not the family or the neighbors because it has to be the “owner of record” of course…
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Tree Removal
Well, it's time for another interim post while Mrs B is staying in Arizona.
She's doing fine but is worried about the damage to her home caused by Hurricane Rita. She's waiting patiently for the insurance and FEMA inspectors to contact her. But we've made some good progress... The BIG pecan tree that crushed her home is being removed today.
Her good neigbors K and B found a crew of nice folks working in the neighborhood removing trees from damaged homes. They checked them out and decided to have them remove the trees from their home. Then they called Mrs B to see if she wanted the guys to do the same to her house too. Of course, we said "YES, PLEASE"!
We know the "front of the house is caved in a bit" and there's a BIG crack down the wall, and the front door only opens about 2 ft because the front of the building is out of alignment, but we won't know what the roof looks like until the tree has gone. B said the Army Corp of Engineers is going around and putting blue tarps on roofs for folks.... It's call the "Blue Tarp Service" and we hope they will be able to get a tarp up before any rains come.
K said she took some photos of the house with the tree on it and is sending them to Arizona, but we don't have anything yet to look at... just the other houses as posted on the www.KOGT.com site. Unfortunately, it seems that he is ending that blog now as he has a radio station and plans on giving the info over-the-air... it was the only real news we had of what was going on in Orange and vacinity.
She's doing fine but is worried about the damage to her home caused by Hurricane Rita. She's waiting patiently for the insurance and FEMA inspectors to contact her. But we've made some good progress... The BIG pecan tree that crushed her home is being removed today.
Her good neigbors K and B found a crew of nice folks working in the neighborhood removing trees from damaged homes. They checked them out and decided to have them remove the trees from their home. Then they called Mrs B to see if she wanted the guys to do the same to her house too. Of course, we said "YES, PLEASE"!
We know the "front of the house is caved in a bit" and there's a BIG crack down the wall, and the front door only opens about 2 ft because the front of the building is out of alignment, but we won't know what the roof looks like until the tree has gone. B said the Army Corp of Engineers is going around and putting blue tarps on roofs for folks.... It's call the "Blue Tarp Service" and we hope they will be able to get a tarp up before any rains come.
K said she took some photos of the house with the tree on it and is sending them to Arizona, but we don't have anything yet to look at... just the other houses as posted on the www.KOGT.com site. Unfortunately, it seems that he is ending that blog now as he has a radio station and plans on giving the info over-the-air... it was the only real news we had of what was going on in Orange and vacinity.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Hurricane Rita hit the bull’s eye! Mrs. B is OK!
Well, today is Saturday Oct 1, 2005 and it seems like a long time since the Eye of Hurricane Rita went over Mrs. B’s (my Mom) home town of Orange, Texas on Saturday morning Sept 24, 2005. Orange is right near Beaumont, Texas for those of you who watched CNN coverage of the event.
The damage to Orange is extensive and thanks to a brave soul at KOGT radio station in Orange, who stayed thru the hurricane and reported on the outcome we know some of what took place there. He continues to post his blog updates and photos of the damage around the area.
What we do know from the KOGT blog is that there’s no food, no water, no electricity, no sewage, and no services in the Orange area although, some things have started to come into town like the National Guard, MREs (food packets), and the start of recovery efforts around the town.
You can see the blog and photos at http://www.kogt.com/.
The good news is that Mrs. B is safe and is staying with relatives in Arizona. She flew out of Houston on the previous Tuesday and if she’d waited another day, she’d have been stuck in the airport. But Mrs. B has the luck of the Irish, and made it out of town safe and sound.
P, a neighbor in Orange has told her “there is a tree on her roof and she’ll need a new roof for sure”. She’s been in contact with FEMA and her insurance carrier and they have been very good about helping her get the claim forms started. She’ll be staying in Arizona while we wait for inspections and such. She’ll have lots of experiences to write about when she gets back on-line again.
The damage to Orange is extensive and thanks to a brave soul at KOGT radio station in Orange, who stayed thru the hurricane and reported on the outcome we know some of what took place there. He continues to post his blog updates and photos of the damage around the area.
What we do know from the KOGT blog is that there’s no food, no water, no electricity, no sewage, and no services in the Orange area although, some things have started to come into town like the National Guard, MREs (food packets), and the start of recovery efforts around the town.
You can see the blog and photos at http://www.kogt.com/.
The good news is that Mrs. B is safe and is staying with relatives in Arizona. She flew out of Houston on the previous Tuesday and if she’d waited another day, she’d have been stuck in the airport. But Mrs. B has the luck of the Irish, and made it out of town safe and sound.
P, a neighbor in Orange has told her “there is a tree on her roof and she’ll need a new roof for sure”. She’s been in contact with FEMA and her insurance carrier and they have been very good about helping her get the claim forms started. She’ll be staying in Arizona while we wait for inspections and such. She’ll have lots of experiences to write about when she gets back on-line again.
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