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Hurricane Rita huffed and puffed and blew just about everyone out of town just a week before the planned Beaumont Quilt Show.  

A mandatory evacuation ordered for Southeast Texas caused hundreds of thousands of people to flood the evacuation routes northward.  However, most of the evacuation routes were already plugged with masses of Houstonians who fled when earlier projections showed landfall near Galveston.  They had pressed eastward to avoid the crushing exodus from Greater Houston.  

A trip normally taking 1 hour turned into a 12 hour marathon along highways that might as well have been through deserts.  Very quickly all gasoline and supplies were snapped up by worried evacuees northward along southeast Texas evacuation routes.  

Many, myself included, went to stay at relative's lake houses about 100 miles inland.  However, Hurricane Rita and her after effects were felt even further north than that.  Several days after the storm had passed through north Texas one had to travel another 60 miles inland to find gasoline due to the large influx of people.  We lost power following the storm because all of the power distribution lines were shredded by falling trees and limbs.

It was disconcerting not to be able to return home following the storm.  The Greater Beaumont area was sealed off until minimum services (water, sewage, power) could be restored.  Those who were allowed to return early to repair essential services were confronted with empty streets crowded by broken trees and lined with damaged buildings.  Driving was hazardous because of all the debris and downed power lines.  Retail supplies and gasoline were only available to select groups.  Essential workers were rationed gasoline and supplied with generators.

The community slowly came back to life following Rita.  After essential services were restored, the hardware and building supplies business came back first.  Other major retailers followed.  We seem to be almost back to normal.  However, many people who evacuated the area may never return.

Everyone has a story to tell about insurance and contractors in the aftermath.  Virtually every building in the entire area has been or needs to be re-roofed.  And yet, we were extremely fortunate in Southeast Texas.  The eye of the storm passed just east of us sparing us the storm surge that could have wiped large sections of our community off the map.

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Copyright © 2005-2008 Peyton C. Richmond
Last modified: January 02, 2008