Rita lessons
Here's what some readers did right and wrong.
Jerry Savant
Age: 64
Home town: Port Neches
Occupation: retired
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I'm glad I evacuated and took the dog.
What did you do wrong?
I wish I would have cut some trees down (in my yard).
What else would you do different next time?
I would make sure everything is out of the refrigerator and cut the gas off. I would make sure I have enough food, water and gas for wherever I evacuate to.
David Jones
Age: 37
Home town: Mauriceville
Occupation: business owner
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
Left in the middle of the night and missed all the traffic. It took us four hours to drive to Marshall. This may not be funny to some.
What did you do wrong?
Came back too soon - too much work with no food, water or showers.
What else would you do different next time?
I sold my generator two weeks before the storm hit. If I get another one, I'll keep it!
W. Joe Deshotel
Age: 23
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: Jefferson County Democratic Party executive director
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
Evacuate! We boarded the windows, which turned out to be unnecessary in our case. We cleared the fridge and all perishables.
What did you do wrong?
Not sure we did anything actually wrong besides not leaving earlier.
What else would you do different next time?
Evacuate sooner!
Clifton Dejean Sr.
Age: 59
Hometown: Beaumont
Occupation: Retired
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
Dejean felt OK about his preparations for Rita in general.
What did you do wrong?
Dejean felt that the biggest problem was that there were no accommodations made for the elderly.
He said that buses with rest rooms and medical necessities should be provided for elderly people to travel more comfortably, or else a secure shelter should be provided here along with generators and whatever other supplies would be necessary to see them through until electricity and other services were restored.
What would you do different next time?
Dejean said he definitely would not subject his elderly relatives to another trip like that. If he didn't have any better options than that, he would probably stay.
Louis G. Silva
Age: 60
Home town: Nederland
Occupation: business owner, Silva Employment Network
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
Left town.
What did you do wrong?
Left town.
What else would you do different next time?
Probably establish better communications with my son, Matt, who took off with a friend of his to the Piney Woods of East Texas. I ended up losing contact and separating from him for over a week! Particularly after I pleaded with him to stay with me. I finally was able to contact him through some friends and flew him out of the area to where we were staying. He learned a good lesson ... families STAY TOGETHER!
Kimberly Colbert
Age: 25
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: medical biller/student
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I packed more than three days worth of clothes.
What did you do wrong?
Make sure to pack all important papers in something portable like a Rubbermaid box. That's what I know now, too, so you don't have to look all around for the papers.
What else would you do different next time?
I'm going to evacuate when they first announce the storm.
Nettie Truss
Age: 60
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: Jefferson County tax deputy
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We got our things together Wednesday, got packed and gassed up to be ready to leave as soon as we got an evacuation notice from the judge.
What did you do wrong?
We waited too long. We really should have left that Wednesday.
What else would you do different next time?
Carry more food and drinks. We thought we could buy water and things along the way, but it wasn't that easy.
Bobby Ortego
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: attorney/crisis counselor
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
Packed enough necessities to last a couple of weeks.
What did you do wrong?
Followed the storm and went east where the storm went.
What else would you do different next time?
Leave earlier and in the daylight hours.
Laura Combs
Age: 37
Home town: Nederland
Occupation: McDonald's manager
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I got my family out safely.
What did you do wrong?
Waited too late to leave. We ended up having to get a plane out on Friday morning.
What else would you do different next time?
Definitely be more prepared. I was just completely unprepared. And definitely leave earlier.
Russell Helson
Age: 21
Hometown: Beaumont
Occupation: studying communications at Lamar University
What did you do right?
Left Thursday, flew to Arizona, then went to Reno for a week and played in a golf tournament.
What did you do wrong?
We left fish and meat in our fridge. We did everything we can do, but it ended up we had to get a new fridge.
What else would you do different next time?
Get out of here, I guess - no electricity.
Zelda Schaefer
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: secretary
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
My family and I evacuated to the Dallas area.
What did you do wrong?
I don't feel we did anything wrong. We were prepared as I think we could be.
What else would you do different next time?
Try very hard to come back earlier and face whatever we were going to have to deal with. The waiting was the hardest thing.
Judy Crochet
Age: 47
Home town: Groves
Occupation: delivery driver
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We left. I don't know that we did anything else right.
What did you do wrong?
I only had a debit card (from the bank). We didn't take enough clothes.
What else would you do different next time?
Take more cash or a credit card. Take more changes of clothes.
Kenneth Williams
Age: 41
Home town: Nome
Occupation: corrections officer
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I got my family and got out of here
What did you do wrong?
The refrigerator. I would have taken the food with me instead of wasting it.
What else would you do different next time?
I would do more preparation for when I came back.
Chantz Haas
Age: 43
Hometown: Beaumont
Occupation: Outside sales
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I evacuated to Brownsville. We waited till everyone else left and we went down there to play golf. We went in the opposite direction from everyone else.
What did you do wrong?
Came back too early. There was no electricity.
What else would you do different next time?
Clean out the refrigerator before I left! We probably could have been prepared better beforehand.
Haas said he thought it would be a good idea in general if people started leaving before being told to leave so traffic flowed a little better.
And go farther north.
Sonja Harris
Age: 42
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: hospital purchasing clerk
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I evacuated. All of them we'd had before, we never left.
What did you do wrong?
We should have left earlier.
What else would you do different next time?
Be more prepared with having supplies on hand, batteries, have a survival kit or something ready.
Juanita Okervall
Age: 61
Home town: Port Neches
Occupation: homemaker
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We left ahead of time.
What did you do wrong?
We didn't unplug our appliances or turn off the power to our house. We had no idea where to go. I wished we would have packed records.
What else would you do different next time?
House is now fully insured and now have a plan to know where to go.
James Payne
Age: 38
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: attorney
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
I had all my insurance papers and checking account numbers. I was able to take all that with me so when I was talking to insurance agents I could give them policy numbers. I also took pictures and video of every part of the house before we left. We also had a relative far away to be our contact person in case we got separated. We learned that as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
What did you do wrong?
I left my children's birth certificates in the safety deposit box at the bank. They were safe, but I couldn't get access to them because Texas State Bank was closed.
What else would you do different next time?
We would probably get out earlier.
Debbie Hilton
Age: 57
Home town: Groves
Occupation: bus aide
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We left early enough. I blessed the house before I left.
What did you do wrong?
We didn't have a destination.
What else would you do different next time?
We've already sat down and planned. We have a list of things to take with us.
Nathan Clover
Age: 50
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: truck driver
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We brought our supplies - batteries, food, radio, water, lots of water
What did you do wrong?
Stayed. We stayed. That was the big mistake. I think back and it wasn't a good decision. I would never do it again.
What else would you do different next time?
I would probably pre-plan a lot better as far as getting important papers together. I'd take it a lot more serious.
Annie Barkers
Age: "Over 50"
Hometown: Port Arthur
Occupation: social worker
What did you do right in response to Rita?
I was mentally prepared and organized. My family had a plan in advance. We knew where we were going and we had a contact person. We got the house boarded up; I had food and water supplies. We had everything we needed.
What did you do wrong?
We left Thursday at 5 a.m. and were stuck in traffic. It took us nine hours to get to Huntsville. We didn't get back here till (Oct. 13). The city was in disarray.
What would you do different?
I think we need to have more meetings with the community. People who lacked transportation need to know (what their options are). We should have more community input, more ways for citizens to get information.
Sam Teter
Age: 24
Hometown: Thicket
Occupation: construction
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We evacuated to Tulsa on Thursday.
Teter and his wife secured their property, put away things that weren't nailed down and then got going.
Because Teter's group was farther north when they began, and they took back roads, they were only stuck in traffic for a couple of hours.
Once in Tulsa, they watched the news, bought supplies - batteries, propane for a camp stove, plenty of canned goods, a generator and extra tanks of gas - before returning.
What did you do wrong?
Nothing really. We were all safe. That's the most important thing.
What else would you do different next time?
(Teter shrugged)
We had everything that was important to us and we had a little bit of luck. Trees fell all around our house, but none of them fell on it.
Margarita Martinez
Age: 32
Hometown: Beaumont
Occupation: housekeeping
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We evacuated to Dallas. We left Wednesday night. We took back roads, not too much on the freeways. It took about nine hours, but that wasn't as bad as some people.
What did you do wrong?
I feel like we did OK. We prepared Wednesday morning and when the men got home from work we left.
We didn't do anything to secure our homes. (laughs) We just go - our lives are the best things we have.
What else would you do different next time?
Martinez said although it was sometimes difficult with so many people - 28 - in one house, she probably wouldn't do anything different "next time."
She said that when living in such close quarters she learned that it was important to be patient and make sure everyone gets a chance to take a shower!
Denise Jones
Age: 30
Home town: Port Neches
Occupation: waitress
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
We left. At first we weren't going to leave.
What did you do wrong?
We didn't know where were going to stay.
What else would you do different next time?
I would know where my destination is and bring more clothes.
Esther Rodriguez
Age: 25
Home town: Beaumont
Occupation: media assistant
What did you do right in response to Hurricane Rita?
Left with my family
What did you do wrong?
Went to Houston first then got stuck there for two days on the freeway.
What else would you do different next time?
Take the road my Mom took (Texas 105 through Sour Lake).
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