Evacuees may be here awhile

Officials say it could be 10 days before 1,100 Port Arthur residents can go home

By: Ashley Gardner - Texarkana Gazette -

Published: 09/16/2008

Staff photo by Tanner Spendley Ruben Acosta, a 6-year-old Hurricane Ike evacuee from Port Arthur, Texas, fights boredom by playing baseball in the parking lot across from the Salvation Army where he and his family are staying. Ruben has been without proper footwear since he arrived in Texarkana with his family last week. He and his family left Port Arthur in such a hurry they forgot his shoelaces, then once in Texarkana his socks were lost after doing laundry. Ruben’s mother has been unable to acquire new shoes for her son.

About 1,100 Port Arthur, Texas, evacuees being sheltered in Texarkana may be here awhile while their Gulf Coast city cleans up after Ike.

“We got our call today saying that we may have to house them for another seven to 10 days,” said Capt. Doris Lawrence of the local Salvation Army, which is sheltering about 67 evacuees. “We’re prepared to do whatever the need is.”

Port Arthur is Texarkana’s sister city in the state’s point-to-point preparedness program, meaning Texarkana provides shelter of special-needs evacuees like those with medical issues or without transportat...

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September, 2008