The Ranger Online

Issue date: 5/18/06 Section: J School Travels

Media Credit: Amber Whittaker Karen Garrison takes a break from cleaning to talk about life after Hurricane Rita.

SABINE PASS - Gigantic mosquitoes buzzed incessantly among the mounds of refuse that used to feather the human nests of this tiny coastal community.

Piles and piles of waterlogged wooden furniture, electronics and even a long-play record half stuck in mud were part of the sidewalks of this small town.

Down the block from a sports complex and next to a pile of rubble that used to be a neighbor's home, one house appeared to have no damage at all. Inside, however, the water had reached a height of 31 inches.

Karen Garrison said the columns of her front porch stopped a wooden roof about 18 feet wide and 20 feet long from crashing through her home.

Some columns were knocked out of place from three to six inches.

"If the columns would've not been there, the roof would've struck the home," Garrison said.

After the water receded, the roof was resting in Garrison's horseshoe driveway amid the plants and the flower bed.

"I wished I would've taken a picture," she said.

Sabine Pass suffered no loss of life, a fact the locals attribute to the evacuation of all but one resident thanks to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. "Katrina scared everyone," she said.

The Garrisons took in family members who lived about an hour south of New Orleans. After the storm, they accompanied their relatives to the city where they would be living with a son.

On their return, they learned of the approaching Hurricane Rita and hurried home to make preparations for their own evacuation.

They left town the Wednesday before the storm hit.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, Karen Garrison described the community as being cohesive, strong and one big family. She noted the people's bonding helps them to overcome obstacles to reconstruction.

Despite the flooding inside the house and the loss of belongings, Garrison said she is fortunate compared to other people in the community who lost everything.

Garrison and her husband, Sam, live in a trailer provided by FEMA right next to their home.

Outside the door of the trailer, the Garrisons burned candles to prevent mosquitoes from getting inside the trailer.

Sam Garrison said the trailer is well-equipped with a microwave oven, propane stove, small conventional oven, refrigerator and freezer, two bunk beds and two convertible beds, in addition to the trailer's bedroom.

Continued...

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