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'This is our home right now'
Published September 26, 2005
LAKE JACKSON — Tears rolled down Mary Matthews’ face as the Katrina evacuee hugged a bus driver after their 96-hour evacuation trip finally ended.
“We’ve been traveling a month and FEMA’s put us back here, and we don’t have no place to stay,” said Matthews, who is from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.
On Sunday afternoon, Brazosport ISD buses rolled into Lake Jackson’s Super 8 Motel, bringing back scores of Katrina evacuees to the only place they now have as home.
For Dionne Wright, her journey started a month ago on the brink of Hurricane Katrina’s disaster. She endured a treacherous stay at the Superdome before being shuttled to Houston. She then was taken to Lake Jackson to stay at the Super 8, thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
When Brazoria County called for a mandatory evacuation last week because of Hurricane Rita, she hitched a ride on a Brazosport ISD bus for the four-day evacuation trip.
The group left Lake Jackson and, 26 hours later, reached a staging area in College Station, where officials told them shelters were full, said bus driver Tito Rodriguez. They stayed one night at the Brazos Center, but then were forced to leave for Lakeway, near Austin.
Finally, the convoy of 12 BISD buses returned Sunday night to Clute and Lake Jackson. The group originally numbered about 140 people, but dwindled to 109 after those needing medical care, including dialysis patients and a woman on oxygen, separated from the group in College Station, said BISD bus driver Sharon O’Neill.
One man broke his collarbone when he fell while exiting a back door, Rodriguez said.
The 96-hour trip taxed the bus drivers and tested the patience of the passengers. The group lost their police escort in Houston, Rodriguez said. Passengers’ tempers flared when Katrina evacuees accused others of pilfering their belongings, stored on a separate bus, he said. The situation was later resolved.
Despite the long trip, Wright, of Algiers, La., sang the praises of the bus drivers and the treatment from the city of Lake Jackson. The city provided the Katrina evacuees with sandwiches as they deboarded the buses.
“Thank God for Texas,” Wright said.
Many passengers bonded with two drivers in particular, Steve Beckman and Rogers Nichols, O’Neill said.
“They wouldn’t leave those people, they were so attached to them,” she said.
Wright is still waiting to reunite with her husband, who was evacuated to a Dallas nursing home after Katrina. The husband and wife got separated during the evacuation of the Superdome.
Wright wants to put down roots, and possibly rent an apartment.
“This is home for right now,” she said.
The evacuees will stay at the motel indefinitely, according to literature disseminated to the hotel by FEMA and the American Red Cross. Until further notice, the program covers lodging for Katrina evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Katrina evacuee Charley Jones, who was staying at Super 8 and evacuated in a rented car, planned to move inland. He and his wife are considering moving somewhere between El Paso and California.
“We’re trying to get away from the water and the hurricanes,” Jones said as he checked back in at the motel lobby.
Other school districts like Angleton, Columbia-Brazoria, Sweeny and Alvin also provided buses to evacuate people lacking reliable transportation. Three Angleton ISD buses were due to return Sunday evening, and more will follow, said Superintendent Heath Burns.
Bridie Isensee is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0149.
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