News Briefs
Issue date: 9/28/05 Section: Briefs
- Page 1 of 4 next >
Student's home becomes an evacuee shelter on the Texas Coast
Senior Meredith Hibbard's family was fine in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. Her small hometown of Nacogdoches, Texas, faced the expected challenges of a hurricane: loss of electricity, flooding, fallen trees, and more recently a gas shortage.
The atmosphere at the Hibbard household, however, is far from normal. It's "really tense," said Hibbard of what she has heard from her family at home in Texas.
Hibbard's family took in 15 evacuees from some of Hurricane Rita's hardest hit areas. "We really only knew this one lady, but she brought all of her friends and my mom welcomed them ...now they're all staying at my house," Hibbard said.
The 15 evacuees have stayed at her house for a week, with no electricity and a limited supply of gas. All of the evacuees brought supplies with them, but the Hibbards have been reaching into their own pockets to help when certain supplies run out.
When Hibbard calls home, she doesn't always know the person who answers. And last time she called, she was told that her mom was at the hospital.
"What really happened is that one of the evacuees staying at our house was worried about a friend in a cabin that she hadn't heard from," said Hibbard.
Mrs. Hibbard had some gas left in her suburban, so she drove the evacuee up to the cabin to find the friend. "It was a cancer patient, actually, and she was dying," said Hibbard. "Luckily, they found her and took her to the hospital...that's how my mom ended up there."
The hospital is currently the only place with electricity in Nacogdoches, which is running on generators, according to Hibbard. "Its 103 degrees outside sometimes right now, so you can imagine what our house is like with 15 people," she said.
Hibbard's was not the only Washington and Lee family affected by Rita. After the devastation caused in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, few people were willing to take chances with another hurricane. Senior Mary Hammon Lee's parents both evacuated Houston.
Senior Meredith Hibbard's family was fine in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. Her small hometown of Nacogdoches, Texas, faced the expected challenges of a hurricane: loss of electricity, flooding, fallen trees, and more recently a gas shortage.
The atmosphere at the Hibbard household, however, is far from normal. It's "really tense," said Hibbard of what she has heard from her family at home in Texas.
Hibbard's family took in 15 evacuees from some of Hurricane Rita's hardest hit areas. "We really only knew this one lady, but she brought all of her friends and my mom welcomed them ...now they're all staying at my house," Hibbard said.
The 15 evacuees have stayed at her house for a week, with no electricity and a limited supply of gas. All of the evacuees brought supplies with them, but the Hibbards have been reaching into their own pockets to help when certain supplies run out.
When Hibbard calls home, she doesn't always know the person who answers. And last time she called, she was told that her mom was at the hospital.
"What really happened is that one of the evacuees staying at our house was worried about a friend in a cabin that she hadn't heard from," said Hibbard.
Mrs. Hibbard had some gas left in her suburban, so she drove the evacuee up to the cabin to find the friend. "It was a cancer patient, actually, and she was dying," said Hibbard. "Luckily, they found her and took her to the hospital...that's how my mom ended up there."
The hospital is currently the only place with electricity in Nacogdoches, which is running on generators, according to Hibbard. "Its 103 degrees outside sometimes right now, so you can imagine what our house is like with 15 people," she said.
Hibbard's was not the only Washington and Lee family affected by Rita. After the devastation caused in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, few people were willing to take chances with another hurricane. Senior Mary Hammon Lee's parents both evacuated Houston.