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Evacuees leave Brenham, head for home
By ARTHUR HAHN/Managing Editor
The thousands of evacuees are gone, presumably back home after a harrowing escape from a massive hurricane that never came.
Hurricane Rita, a Force 5 storm which at one point seemed locked into the Houston-Galveston area, instead twisted eastward, sparing that area from a direct hit ... and a route that probably would have brought the devastating storm to Washington County.
An estimated 3 million people fled ahead of Rita, causing massive traffic jams on major escape routes that included U.S. 290 westbound lanes.
But by Sunday, the heavy traffic was headed the other way, as evacuees were anxious to return to their homes.
At one point, 24 shelters were open here, including area churches, Brenham Junior High, Brenham Middle School and Blinn College. That number today had fallen to only one shelter with a few people.
Those shelters housed more than 2,400 people, with an undetermined number of evacuees in private homes or motels or simply sleeping in their cars on the side of the road.
"We hosted 2,400, 2,500 people that we know of for sure," city public information officer Angela Hahn said this morning. "We also know there are families that just stayed with other people who opened their homes."
Some people pitched tents in parking lots or on roadsides.
For the city of Brenham's utilities department, Rita was a "non-event." City and county officials had prepared for the worst, closing all non-essential operations Friday.
Instead, all the county received were a few drops of rain and thousands of coastal area evacuees who packed into local facilities, seeking shelter from the storm.
And when it became evident Rita would not roar ashore at Galveston as feared, local efforts intensified to help the evacuees who began arriving in greater numbers than expected.
Fuel and water were trucked up and down U.S. 290 to stranded motorists.
Volunteers joined in the effort, shuttling food, ice and water as well.
The last shelter was officially closed today.
Schools in the Brenham and Burton districts remained closed today; Brenham ISD was facing the problem of replenishing food supplies because the district had exhausted its resources feeding evacuees housed in schools.
Burton ISD was planning to begin classes again Tuesday.
Praise for Washington County's efforts in helping evacuees came from those who fled the storm.
Debra Perry said she and her family -- including four children -- evacuated from Lake Jackson but managed to find a room in a local motel.
"I wish I could personally thank your residents in Brenham," Perry said. I was a Hurricane Rita evacuee in Brenham this past weekend and I was very impressed.
"They say Brenham has the best ice cream in the country, but I believe they also have the best residents in the country. I was so impressed with the way your local residents reached out to so many strangers.
"We were traveling with four children and we spent most of our days at the Fireman's Park.
"We had several of your residents come up to us offering us a place to stay and a place to eat. One gentleman brought us chocolate pies, which my children loved.
"One God-sent woman drove up and gave us bread and ice, which were the only things we could not find in the stores.
"The care and love shown from your community was amazing and I definitely want to visit again under better circumstances. Your community is full of loving and caring people."
Others who live here said they found incredible acts of kindness and concern.
Brenham Nursing Home, concerned for its residents should power go out for an extended time, tried to find an electrical generator, said Sam Planta, director of growth and development for Touchstone Communities, operators of the facility.
"We'll, the run on generators was well on its way," said Planta. "We searched from San Antonio, Austin, and up to Temple to no avail. We were very concerned for our residents Š they are extremely vulnerable to heat and dehydration if we lost power.
"We thought to try some contractors to see if they had one available Š after 10 different calls, Jimmy Evans Construction rose to the occasion Within 10 minutes a 60-kilowatt generator was on its way to Brenham.
" The generator was large enough to run the entire building. After setting the generator up, the employee of Jimmy Evans headed back for a six-hour drive to Austin being in the middle of all the traffic coming from Houston."
The company even declined an offer to be paid for use of the generator, Planta added.
Hahn said the local response to the effort "has been tremendous."
"We had volunteers from everywhere, manning the phones, opening shelters," she said.
The city has switched its mode, now coordinating with the state "to try and provide some assistance to those areas that were hit so hard," she added.
Hurricane Rita, a Force 5 storm which at one point seemed locked into the Houston-Galveston area, instead twisted eastward, sparing that area from a direct hit ... and a route that probably would have brought the devastating storm to Washington County.
An estimated 3 million people fled ahead of Rita, causing massive traffic jams on major escape routes that included U.S. 290 westbound lanes.
But by Sunday, the heavy traffic was headed the other way, as evacuees were anxious to return to their homes.
At one point, 24 shelters were open here, including area churches, Brenham Junior High, Brenham Middle School and Blinn College. That number today had fallen to only one shelter with a few people.
Those shelters housed more than 2,400 people, with an undetermined number of evacuees in private homes or motels or simply sleeping in their cars on the side of the road.
"We hosted 2,400, 2,500 people that we know of for sure," city public information officer Angela Hahn said this morning. "We also know there are families that just stayed with other people who opened their homes."
Some people pitched tents in parking lots or on roadsides.
For the city of Brenham's utilities department, Rita was a "non-event." City and county officials had prepared for the worst, closing all non-essential operations Friday.
Instead, all the county received were a few drops of rain and thousands of coastal area evacuees who packed into local facilities, seeking shelter from the storm.
And when it became evident Rita would not roar ashore at Galveston as feared, local efforts intensified to help the evacuees who began arriving in greater numbers than expected.
Fuel and water were trucked up and down U.S. 290 to stranded motorists.
Volunteers joined in the effort, shuttling food, ice and water as well.
The last shelter was officially closed today.
Schools in the Brenham and Burton districts remained closed today; Brenham ISD was facing the problem of replenishing food supplies because the district had exhausted its resources feeding evacuees housed in schools.
Burton ISD was planning to begin classes again Tuesday.
Praise for Washington County's efforts in helping evacuees came from those who fled the storm.
Debra Perry said she and her family -- including four children -- evacuated from Lake Jackson but managed to find a room in a local motel.
"I wish I could personally thank your residents in Brenham," Perry said. I was a Hurricane Rita evacuee in Brenham this past weekend and I was very impressed.
"They say Brenham has the best ice cream in the country, but I believe they also have the best residents in the country. I was so impressed with the way your local residents reached out to so many strangers.
"We were traveling with four children and we spent most of our days at the Fireman's Park.
"We had several of your residents come up to us offering us a place to stay and a place to eat. One gentleman brought us chocolate pies, which my children loved.
"One God-sent woman drove up and gave us bread and ice, which were the only things we could not find in the stores.
"The care and love shown from your community was amazing and I definitely want to visit again under better circumstances. Your community is full of loving and caring people."
Others who live here said they found incredible acts of kindness and concern.
Brenham Nursing Home, concerned for its residents should power go out for an extended time, tried to find an electrical generator, said Sam Planta, director of growth and development for Touchstone Communities, operators of the facility.
"We'll, the run on generators was well on its way," said Planta. "We searched from San Antonio, Austin, and up to Temple to no avail. We were very concerned for our residents Š they are extremely vulnerable to heat and dehydration if we lost power.
"We thought to try some contractors to see if they had one available Š after 10 different calls, Jimmy Evans Construction rose to the occasion Within 10 minutes a 60-kilowatt generator was on its way to Brenham.
" The generator was large enough to run the entire building. After setting the generator up, the employee of Jimmy Evans headed back for a six-hour drive to Austin being in the middle of all the traffic coming from Houston."
The company even declined an offer to be paid for use of the generator, Planta added.
Hahn said the local response to the effort "has been tremendous."
"We had volunteers from everywhere, manning the phones, opening shelters," she said.
The city has switched its mode, now coordinating with the state "to try and provide some assistance to those areas that were hit so hard," she added.
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