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Making the wheels turn
Published October 3, 2005
As the dissection of the Brazoria County hurricane evacuation plan continues, the pieces which had been in place for years that worked and didn’t work become rather obvious.
Among the things which worked best, interestingly enough, was a piece that no more than days before county residents began scurrying toward safety hadn’t been part of the plan at all.
School district and government officials in hurricane-prone areas, including those here at home, had witnessed the video images of hundreds of school buses that could have been used to evacuate people from Hurricane Katrina sitting flooded in a New Orleans lot.
Combined with the images of poor Louisianans trapped in Katrina’s aftermath because they had no way to evacuate, area officials recognized the need to come up with a plan so that neither image was replayed here.
In the three weeks after Katrina devastated the central Gulf Coast, discussions began as to how to coordinate an evacuation using Brazoria County school buses. The problem was that Hurricane Rita had already zeroed in on the Texas coast before those discussions had gone much further than talking.
Despite that, school buses filled with evacuees still rolled out of town well in advance of the storm’s predicted landfall. School districts provided the buses and as many drivers as they could round up in short order. Local and county government officials set up the pickup points and provided fill-in drivers where needed.
Because of their efforts, hundreds of people who otherwise would have been forced to ride out the storm found their way to shelter.
When the time comes — hopefully well into the future — that another evacuation is necessary, certainly things will go more smoothly than they did for Rita. But it is amazing to us the coordination of providing school buses for this evacuation not only happened, but went as smoothly as it did.
It is a tribute to everyone involved in the effort, from district administrators down to the volunteer drivers, to have pulled off such a difficult task.
LJ minister helps evacuees keep faith
When the evacuees from Hurricane Katrina began arriving at the Astrodome, George R. Brown Convention Center and Reliant Center in Houston, they understandably were looking for shelter, food, water and a comfortable place to sleep.
Many also were looking for a way to reconnect with God.
Pastor John Phillips of Lake Jackson gave them an avenue to make that connection. Phillips went to the convention center because he felt a need to comfort those who had suffered the worst in Katrina’s aftermath.
Eventually he set up a prayer station and makeshift chapel to minister to the evacuees, giving people a place to open their hearts and shed the darkness from which they had come.
There have been many stories of people doing good deeds and giving of themselves to those most in need. Phillips’ efforts to rejuvenate the spirit of those displaced from their New Orleans homes is important in giving people hope as they attempt to rebuild their lives.
Alvin apartments provide refuge
Among the many things most of us take for granted is a sense of independence.
Living on their own and building a greater sense of self-worth are just several of the benefits residents of a new apartment complex in Alvin will receive.
Westover Cove, which was officially opened with a dedication ceremony Sept. 16, is a 15-unit Housing and Urban Development apartment complex.
Designed to provide safe, affordable — and permanent — housing to people with mental illnesses, it was built with a $1.4 million grant from the federal agency.
The complex is the brainchild of Brock Westover, a Santa Fe retiree who grew frustrated searching for a place for his autistic son to live.
He said that search, along with prayer, eventually led him to Carolyn Karbowski, executive director of the Nations Voice on Mental Illness Gulf Coast chapter.
Together, Westover and Karbowski pushed for five years for an apartment complex before it became a reality. In the lengthy process, they took their idea to HUD, secured consultants and formed a nonprofit group once the grant was received.
They then worked with the city to get the necessary building permits for the project, which found a warm home in the city.
“I personally feel it’s going to work,” said Alvin Councilman Matt DeKenipp. “These people need to be out in society.”
While this is a success story on many levels, it’s just a beginning.
“The need is astronomical,” Karbowski said. “We need 1,000 apartments and we’ve got 14, but it’s a start.”
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