Eight Feet Deep

A press release by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (whose hair was perfect)says the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is allowing refugees from the hurricane to camp for free in our state parks. Maps and descriptions of the state parks can be found here.

Navy landing craft such as the one pictured are among the three larger ships headed from Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico to assist with disaster recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Meanwhile, Interstate 10 which is only 7 or so blocks from where I live, should be getting pretty busy later. About 25,000 refugees from New Orleans are being bused to Texas. The primary shelter is the Astrodome in Houston, although I understand Jefferson County and Texas state officials are discussing the possibility of housing longer-term refugees here in Beaumont at Ford Park. Speaking of, I hope the 1,000 or more refugees at Ford Park and others to come like country music. The free Labor Day concert which is actually Sunday evening at Ford Park will be going on as planned. Beaumont-area natives Clay Walker, Mark Chestnut and Zona Jones will be performing.

Refugees from Louisiana, Mississippi and, I imagine, Alabama are scattered all over Southeast Texas as well as throughout other parts of the state. I read where a shelter is being set up at a church in Waco, which is about a 5 1/2-hour drive northwest from the state line on I-10.

Information on Southeast Texas relief efforts for those hit by Katrina, including needs of local shelters, can be found on KFDM-TV Channel 6’s Web site.

U.S. Air Force photo
Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., near Biloxi, was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. A “good 95 percent” of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., was affected turning it into a pile of debris and mud, said a base spokesperson.

Directions to Ford Park in Beaumont, Texas, a shelter for those fleeing Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

It is just heartbreaking to see photos and read stories about what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast, especially to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I was stationed at the U.S. Navy Construction Battalion Center — the Seabees — in Gulfport, Miss., some 30 years ago. I was there for 2 1/2 years and I loved the place. I loved the people. If it hadn’t been for a woman I would have probably lived there. Today that woman is long gone (my fault entirely) as is much of the Mississippi coast. I also visited New Orleans a lot when I was stationed in Gulfport. Hey, when you’re 19-20 years old and NOLA is 70 miles away, what you gonna do? I haven’t been to Gulfport since 1994 and haven’t been to New Orleans in a couple of years. But I still feel a connection with them. I remember special places and tonight I wonder if those places are piles of rubble?

One piece of good news. A friend in Waco e-mailed me that a friend of ours and her husband who live in New Orleans got out the weekend before and are visiting her mom near Houston. Unfortunately, their apartment is supposedly under 14 feet of water. It makes me wonder, what are you going to do about the little things, like jobs?

I still don’t know about my friends Betti and Dave who live in Gulfport. Their place is about 18-20 blocks north of the beach. But the whole place got hammered. I hope they went up to the country around Columbus, Miss., from where Betti hails. Hopefully, I will find out in the not too distant future.

Meanwhile, the Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi still is doing a superb job despite everything. A couple of their reporters have been blogging for the last couple of days. Knight Ridder newspaper CEO Tony Ridder and other officials from that chain came to talk to Sun Herald employees today about the importance of what they were doing. At the time, only about 25 percent of the Sun Herald’s workforce had been accounted for. Scary. We wish them the best.

Other good info from the hard hit areas is from the Times-Picayune and WWL-TV in New Orleans. Local TV stations here in Beaumont, Texas, where a number of storm refugees have gathered, report that local shelters at Ford Park, the Salvation Army and in other spots need donations of money, toiletries, bedding, etc. for those staying here. If you’re around here or even elsewhere Email me and I’ll try to find out from someone how you can help.

A lot of people just seem to be noticing that TV news and weather people sometimes look like dopes when they stand out in the middle of a Category 4 (or 3,2,1)hurricane and do a stand-up. My guess is some may see doing such a stunt as a talisman that will somehow bring luck to the news person just as standing out in Hurricane Carla did to Dan Rather more than 40 years ago. That and sometimes the newscasters standing out in the middle of the hurricane are just dopes.

That said, I think it can be instructive by showing how hard it is to stand up against the wind’s fury. I don’t know how many of us can estimate wind speed by looking at trees. You can in a rule-of-thumb sort of way. But I believe all bets are off after the wind speed passes 100 or so, much less 130 mph, like with Hurricane Katrina.

I read a blog last night in which some guy left a comment about the news people out in the storm for stand-ups that just really ticked me off. He said: “Most news reporters are bottom feeders.” I fired him back an e-mail message that said, basically, okay, where are you going to get your news? From bloggers? That’s good, except the majority of blogs today are not doing original news reporting. Or so I would guess. I don’t know, I think the guy is a real ass**** to make such a blanket statement. Of course, I was a reporter until recently. I will be on and off as a freelancer as well. I also have good friends who are reporters.

I pointed out that there are government people who are also bottom feeders, and cops, firemen, carpenters, attorneys, preachers, just pick a profession and you will find a bottom feeder. But reporters — from TV and radio and newspapers — are out there in what was and what is still a dangerous area along the coast where one of the country’s most catastrophic natural disasters has just taken place. So say what you will, they are doing a job and, for the most part, a damn good one.

The hurricane stand-up has just been done to death, however.

And what is Leeza Gibbons doing on my blog? Funny you should ask.

Today I was at the Tyrrell Historical Library in downtown Beaumont, Texas, doing some research for a story I have pitched to a magazine. On display were photos and other artifacts to celebrate the 50th anniversary this year of local KFDM-TV Channel 6. That’s right Channel 6 and I grew up together and we both turn 50 this year.

Growing up in the sticks about 60 miles from Beaumont, Channel 6 was only one of two or three local TV stations we could get. No cable existed in those parts back then. Yeah, and I used to have to walk three or four … blocks to school.

Various distinguished news alumni were featured in the display’s photographs including Leeza Gibbons, who hosted a local TV newsmagazine on Channel 6 back in the 70s. I’m not totally sure what she is doing now, but if you have the patience to read her Web site, then perhaps you may find out.