OxfordPress.com

East Texas prepares for storm

LUFKIN, Texas — East Texans are preparing for Hurricane Rita — the third-largest hurricane in recorded history — as it aims for a direct hit on the Lone Star State.

Lufkin and Angelina County, already home to numerous evacuees from Hurricane Katrina over the past three weeks, are now inundated with Texas residents fleeing the Gulf Coast areas of Beaumont, Galveston and Houston.

As a major crossing of two evacuation routes — U.S. 59 from Houston and U.S. 69 from Beaumont — Lufkin's facilities were at peak capacity. Motels were full, gas stations were being sucked dry, and stores were running short of batteries, bottled water and ice.

And in an unprecedented move to ease the tremendous amount of Houston-area traffic, transportation department officials turned U.S. 59's southbound lanes into northbound contra-flow lanes, allowing for four lanes of travel to try to alleviate massive traffic problems. The contra-flow was OK'd Thursday night, starting on U.S. 59 at Humble and continuing to Lufkin.

All schools — public and private — in Angelina County have dismissed classes until at least Monday.

The wheels of county government slowed to a crawl also as the Angelina County Courthouse was set to close at noon today. On Saturday, the Angelina County landfill will be closed.

But law enforcement was in active duty mode Thursday, with much of the force helping to direct evacuees to shelter registration or keeping traffic — which inched its way from Houston and Beaumont — moving to evacuee centers or on northward toward Nacogdoches or Tyler.

"Right now, things are moving slow, but they're moving," Angelina County Sheriff Kent Henson said. "All available officers are here, and we're putting them on 12-hour shifts. We may be doing some sleepovers in the office, though."

For the third straight day, unseasonably hot weather clamped down over East Texas, and firefighters were once again stretching their resources in dousing numerous wildfires that broke out in various parts of the county.

Aside from local school facilities, civic centers in Lufkin and Diboll as well as dozens of local churches throughout the county were on the list for housing evacuees if first-available shelters fill up.

Lufkin's First Baptist Church became temporary home to 300 senior adults, children and staff from a pair of Buckner Benevolence facilities in Beaumont. "We felt that in light of the devastating effects Hurricane Katrina had on the Gulf Coast just three weeks ago, it was in the best interest of our residents and staff to call for an evacuation to a more inland location," said Charles Wilson, interim general manager for Buckner Retirement Services.

The city of Lufkin suspended recycling pickup, but crews were picking up junk items, and residents were advised to secure all recycling and trash containers.

Shelli Clark with Memorial Health System of East Texas said the Lufkin hospital was housing 10 hospitalized evacuees from Rita who have come from as far as Liberty County as of mid-day Thursday. "We are expecting more and have instituted our disaster plan — Code Black. We will hold over additional staff, and we have pre-ordered supplies, food and linens. We also have day care for employees' children since the schools are out."

The hospital does have generators, Clark said, in case of a power outage.

Gary Willmon and Christine S. Diamond write for The Lufkin Daily News. Gary Willmon's e-mail address is gwillmon@coxnews.com. Christine S. Diamond's e-mail address is cdiamond@coxnews.com.