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Relief sparse in rural areas

WELLS, Texas — Hurricane Rita showed no partiality in spreading destruction over East Texas, but a number of residents who live in outlying areas are wondering why they seem to be forgotten when it comes to relief.

"We have no food, no gas and no ice," said Wells resident Linda Parfait. "We've called, and all we can get is an answering machine."

Parfait said power outages have made things unbearable for many elderly people in the town who require oxygen, but the most dire need is for food, water and ice.

"We don't have a food store in our little town anymore after the only one shut down a few months ago," Parfait said. "We have one convenience store, but it closed during the hurricane and hasn't reopened."

That has left the residents of Wells scrambling.

A spokesperson for the city of Wells said four churches — First Baptist, Calvary Baptist, Wells Chapel and Living Waters Church — were providing meals and had provisions available for those who needed them, but the gas shortage had made things difficult for everyone.

It was much the same scenario in Zavalla, which has also been struggling in the heat as the long wait for restored electricity goes on.

One emergency response official in the Zavalla area pleaded over the police radio and fire channel for someone to check on a Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) shipment of essential items — namely, food, ice and water — that was scheduled for his area but had not arrived.

"We have people down here who have been without anything for three days," he said. "If you could send something down our way, you'd have about 1,000 people who will thank you."

A distribution of ice for Zavalla residents helped temporarily cool the steaming-hot conditions, but other staples were still in short supply late Monday afternoon.

School officials were housing evacuees on Zavalla Independent School District campuses, but when electricity was lost in the storm, a number of elderly or disabled evacuees began to be in danger of overheating.

"We had 36 people who we really needed to move into some place that was air conditioned," said Kathy Ray, superintendent of Zavalla ISD. "We were able to get them off to a shelter in Tyler that had power."

Gary Willmon writes for The Lufkin Daily News. E-mail: gwillmon@coxnews.com.