Published: September 16, 2008 02:20 am      

Officials plan for long-term shelters

PALESTINE — Less than 150 people were being sheltered in Anderson County as of late Monday afternoon as state and other officials were comprising a plan to place some of the displaced Texans into long-term shelter.

Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast late Friday and during the wee morning hours Saturday, with the eye hitting near Galveston. By late morning and mid-day Saturday, Anderson County was feeling the effects of the hurricane, with blowing rain and winds in excess of 50 miles per hour.

Schelby Wells, assistant emergency management coordinator for Anderson County, said 148 persons were being sheltered in a handful of churches throughout the county as of late Monday afternoon.

Most of the evacuees in Anderson County are from the Golden Triangle area of Beaumont and the Greater Houston area.

“These people were following the evacuation routes for their areas,” Wells said.

Late Monday afternoon, Wells said a meeting continued in Austin as state officials were working on establishing long-term sheltering for people residing in areas expected to be without power, water and other critical services — such as medical — for a significant period of time.

“We’re in the process of working with the state to see about moving people to a long-term shelter,” Wells said. “Our local Red Cross is only capable of supporting short-term shelter...These people are not able to go back to their homes.”

Wells said the City of Houston was preparing to make long-term sheltering available to its residents. However, those shelters likely will not be operational until the mid-to-latter part of the week, she added.

Also, Anderson County residents who have power, water and other basic necessities still are being urged by county officials to lend a helping hand to others who may be less fortunate and without those services.

“Please be a neighbor to these people and, if at all possible, offer them the comforts of your home,” Wells said. “We’re most concerned about the elderly, the disabled and the poor.”

By Monday, power had been restored to many of the Anderson County residences which had lost electricity during the storm.

Approximately 500 Oncor workers initially responded to a four-county area, including Anderson County, according to Wells. Another 300 utility workers have been added to the effort, bringing the total number of crew to approximately 800 in the four-county area, she pointed out.

“We’re real fortunate to have that large number of people in here with the much larger destruction south of Anderson County,” Wells said.

The assistant emergency management coordinator also asked residents within the county who received structural damage due to the effects of Hurricane Ike — whether to their home, barn, garage or some other similar structure — to report that damage to local officials by calling either 903-723-7406 or 903-723-7820.

“Even if they have insurance, we would still like to know about the damage,” Wells said. “This is information we need to get to FEMA to see if we will be eligible for individual assistance.”

Meanwhile, Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor reported Monday that his agency’s call volume was “actually back to normal.”

“What we’re seeing today is tree crews everywhere cutting trees and clearing debris,” Taylor said. “As far as I know, 99 percent of the roads are all open again.

“We’ve probably lost 75 to 100 trees,” the sheriff continued. “Some of them went on houses. I don’t know of anybody that was hurt, so we were fortunate. We just thank God it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

Also, the Neches Compost Facility located on U.S. 79 between Palestine and Jacksonville is offering free disposal of “limbs, brush and debris — that type of thing,” according to Kelly Holcomb, who is with the facility.

Holcomb said nothing should be brought to the facility in bags.

“Just loose material,” Holcomb stated.

The compost facility is located approximately 19 miles east of Palestine on U.S. 79 in Cherokee County, approximately 1 1/2 miles east of the Neches River on the north side of the highway.

Currently, the facility is open to receive materials from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“We are contemplating a weekend shift,” said Holcomb, indicating demand would determine whether the facility offers additional hours.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com