AP: Texas

09/26/2005

By APRIL CASTRO  / Associated Press

A family dead, billions in damages and desperate calls for fuel and ice echoed Monday through communities savaged by Hurricane Rita.

A storm of record strength as it whipped through the Gulf, Rita weakened and turned from evacuated metropolitan areas. The toll along the mostly rural gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana mounted.

The number of deaths rose to seven when the bodies of five people were discovered in a Beaumont apartment.

The five — a man, his girlfriend's three children and their aunt — apparently were overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator they used to power fans to cool their home as temperatures rose into the 90s Monday and the heat index was near 106 degrees. The hurricane knocked out electricity to the region over the weekend.

Rita roared ashore Saturday morning, slamming the refinery towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur, as well as Lake Charles, La., after an epic evacuation that emptied a swath of coastline. Some 3 million people fled from Rita's path after seeing what Katrina did to New Orleans a month ago.

Gov. Rick Perry said the state still is projecting Rita's total damage at $8 billion. Steve McCraw, the state's homeland security director, said the actual bill could end up being lower once damage surveys are complete because that estimate was based on Rita coming ashore as a Category 4 hurricane.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn visited Beaumont on Monday, and described it as "still kind of a mess."

"There's quite a bit of wind damage and they've got a problem with electricity and water supply, so they're not encouraging people to come back," the Texas Republican said. If people are "safe where they are and have food and water — they may not have that here."

Residents living in small, rural counties, such as San Jacinto, Jasper, Newton and Orange, are desperate for ice and fuel, said U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, who represents those areas. He said the counties first got overwhelmed by the thousands of evacuees fleeing Houston and Galveston, then by Rita.

"Most of these counties have absolutely no power and no fuel, period and it is hotter than blazes," said Brady, who has been traveling the counties since Rita hit. "Ice has got to happen today and generators have got to happen today, because nursing homes and senior centers need them."

Brady said emergency officials have been following the disaster response protocol, asking for help through the state, but they are not getting the response they need. They do have sufficient food and water, he said.

"East Texas needs everyone's attention this hour, right now, and it doesn't matter whether it's the state or FEMA or the Corps of Engineers. I don't really care whose fault it is. It needs help now," he said. "These communities are the last to complain, but they've reached the end."

About 255,300 Texans were still without power Monday, said Morgan Stewart, a spokesman for the Entergy, the electric utility for southwestern Louisiana and eastern Texas. About 1,500 residents in La Marque, Dickinson and Texas remained without power, according to Texas-New Mexico Power Company spokeswoman Valerie Smith said.

Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said crews are still working to remove debris from state roadways, mainly in Chambers, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange and Tyler counties.

"They are already passable but in some areas but you have to weave between fallen pine trees," Cox said. "The major highways are already totally clear. We're just talking about smaller roads."

Interstate 10 in southeast Texas is open but exits into Beaumont and other cities along the way to the Louisiana border are still closed until evacuees are allowed to return home. Travel is also being restricted on area roadways south of U.S. 190 and east of state highway 146.

The more than 110,000 people living in Beaumont were urged not to return home since water power and sewer services will not be restored for weeks.

Quanishia Haynes, whose father died in the Beaumont apartment, said he and his girlfriend's family evacuated to Mississippi as Rita approached. She said they returned about 1 a.m. Monday because they ran out of money.

She and her boyfriend later drove by the apartment to see them, and they found everyone in the apartment unresponsive. She said it looked like her father, Billy Coleman, 46, tried to get out of bed and was walking to the door when he fell.

Three siblings — Crystal Farva, 12, Demarcus Bean, 10, Alliyah Reese, 7 — were killed, along with Coleman and Dianna Bean, 29. The children's mother and Bean's sister, Irene Bean, survived along with her 8-year-old son Emery Reese, 8. Both were hospitalized in critical condition.

Neighbor C. J. Collins said initially the generator was running outside the apartment, but he said he overheard Coleman and Bean debating over whether to move it indoors so the noise wouldn't bother other neighbors or get stolen. An apartment manager said the generator was found in a closet.

Haynes blamed the government for "letting all of us down" and not getting more supplies and support to Rita evacuees sooner.

"Ain't nobody helping us. Some people from Hurricane Katrina still ain't been helped," she said.

As of Monday, there were nearly 8,500 Katrina and Rita evacuees in 45 shelters in Texas, according to the American Red Cross.

Meanwhile, authorities say at least 16 Texas oil refineries remain shut down after Rita, which made landfall at Sabine Pass, about 30 miles from Beaumont. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont were without power, and a second Port Arthur refinery was damaged and could remain out of service for two to four weeks.

"We didn't dodge a bullet with Rita, we took a couple bullets in the legs with Katrina and Rita," said Tom Kloza, an analyst with the Oil Price Information Service of Wall, N.J. "It's still a significant loss, and it's going to create some supply problems through at least mid-October."

Early estimates were that Hurricane Rita will cost U.S. refiners about 800,000 barrels a day in capacity, on top of about 900,000 barrels a day still down due to Katrina. He said the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline could again top $3.

Gasoline and traffic were both flowing smoothly as metropolitan Houston continued its second day of a voluntary, staggered re-entry plan, an attempt to avoid the epic gridlock that accompanied the exodus of nearly 3 million people last week.

"It's not stop-and-go traffic. Everything is flowing," Cox said.

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Associated Press reporters Betsy Blaney and Dave Koenig in Dallas, Kelley Shannon and Liz Austin in Austin, Suzanne Gamboa in Washington D.C., and Juan Lozano and Kristen Hays in Houston contributed to this report.