As noted earlier, Katy ISD and the City of Katy jumped into action to shelter Hurricane Rita refugees when they were stranded on I-10. Now Houston Chronicle correspondent Judith Hindman files a more complete report. Excerpts:
Katy's emergency shelter at the Leonard E. Merrell Center closed late Saturday morning as the last of the people and pets who were stranded along the Katy Freeway drove away, courtesy of donated gasoline.Katy Mayor Doyle Callender estimates at least 1,100 people stayed at the center Friday night while the storm raged ashore along the Texas-Louisiana border.
Callender said the city asked the Texas Department of Transportation for fuel for the evacuees.
"But we never saw any fuel from the state," he said.
So Callender and other officials found an alternate fuel source. He declined to say who donated the gasoline.
KISD Superintendent Leonard Merrill, however, said a "small amount" came from the school district.
Merrell, for whom the center is named, said many of evacuees had pets with them and 70 to 80 animals were housed in the nearby L.D. Robinson Pavilion, which is used for the annual Katy Independent School District's FFA livestock show.
"A couple of dogs had litters of puppies overnight," Merrell said.
The evacuated pets also included four horses, iguanas, snakes, rabbits and several kinds of tropical birds.
He said the Katy Christian Ministries and local volunteers provided at least three meals and a continuous supply of liquids.
Because most of the evacuees were stranded along the interstate, local officials used school buses, police cars and ambulances to transport them to the center.
"We swept the area several times," said Marc Jordan, Katy's administrative director of emergency medical services. He said they even transported people who were outside the Katy city limits.
Merrell said the evacuees included 46 people from mental health facilities whose buses were stranded on I-10. He said those evacuees were housed in a separate room on the second floor.
"If we knew people needed help, we tried to help them," he said.
Small town; big heart.
Posted by Alan at September 24, 2005 06:14 PM