Self reliant

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Bobby German clears brush behind his wife's dental office in Beaumont on Friday, Sept. 30. German lost his leg to cancer when he was 15.

Chainsaw sharpener

Dave Marshall of Victoria sharpens chainsaws from the bed of his truck on Dowlen Road in Beaumont on Friday, Sept. 30.

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Looters sent to hell

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Dowlen West homeowner Mike Flash cleans the neighborhood's streets with his personal tractor in Beaumont on Friday, Sept. 30. The city allowed residents to come into the city to check and secure their property from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The city requested all non-emergency residents leave the city by curfew.

Trash deposit center

Danny Jackson (left) and Ralph Adger (right), both solid waste specialists with the City of Beaumont, help dump the rotting trash of Carla Tucker (center) of Beaumont at Central Park in Beaumont on Friday, Sept. 30. The city has requested residents dispose of food-based trash at designated locations while city employees continue to clear roads.

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Free flat repairs

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise


(Above) Modica Bros. tire tech Jason Price mounts a tire on a car at a store in Beaumont on Friday, Sept. 30. Due to the massive amount of debris throughout the city, the company offered to fix flats for free.

(Left) Modica Bros. warehouse manager Tony Patillo repairs a flat at a store in Beaumont. All available employees participated in repairing tires.

FEMA goes house-to-house

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

FEMA representative Tandy Boroughs, a Mesquite fire fighter, (left) listens to Randy Byars in Beaumont on Friday, September 30. FEMA representatives are going door-to-door to answer questions and notify the Beaumont Fire Department about houses with possible victims. Hurricane Rita tore through the Southeast Texas on Saturday, September 24, 2005.
 

Clear Channel team coverage

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

(Above) KLVI program director Jim Love (right) relays a report to Mix 104.5 program director Don Rivers (left) while producer Roger Dimmick (center) works in another room at KLVI radio in Beaumont on Friday, Sept. 30.

(Right) Mix 104.5 program director Don Rivers remains on the air in Beaumont. The five local Clear Channel Communication Inc radio stations have aired continuous team coverage since Hurricane Rita tore through the Southeast Texas.
 

Pizza returns

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Eduardo Cuellar, Jr. (left) and Domino's district manager Danny Sciandra (right) prepare pizzas in the parking lot of Home Depot in Beaumont on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005. The portable unit started selling pizzas to the public and providing them free-of-charge to law enforcement and military personnel on Wednesday, Sept. 28. Previously, they were providing free pizzas to emergency and law enforcement officers at Christus St. Elizabeth hospital.


Aaron Stroud with the Beaumont Domino's Pizza cuts pizzas at a portable unit in the parking lot of Home Depot in Beaumont.

Port Arthur neighborhoods sealed

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Areas of Port Arthur remain completely sealed to all but emergency workers in Port Arthur on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005.

Post office wait

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Beaumont residents wait in the dark lobby of the U.S. Post Office on Dowlen Road in Beaumont on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005. Residents who need their mail must go to the post office to retrieve it.

Vinton motel closed

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

A motel is severely damaged off Interstate 10 near Vinton, La. on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005.

For additional coverage, please see Hurricane Rita's toll on SW Louisiana or Mark's Hurricane Rita visual timeline.
 

Parkdale Mall activity

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Members of Task Force Bowie provide food, water and ice to Beaumont residents at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005. The task force was assembled with members from San Antonio, Grand Prairie and Terrell. Although many stores had made huge leaps to open and provide residents with needed supplies days earlier, it was the first day FEMA had arrived to feed people at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont.


Cpl. David Myers of Grand Prairie puts water into a Beaumont ISD truck at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont.


Farmers Insurance litigation specialist Brent Caffee (left) and special claims representative Greg Ferris (right) prepare food bags for anyone who needs them at a Farmers Catastrophe Claims Center at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont. The team also presents policy holders with checklists before calling the company to file insurance claims. The team began operations in Beaumont on September 26.

Port Arthur's "Best-kept lawn"

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise


(Above) Doneane Beckcom of Port Neches (right) calls a radio station and drinks wine while her boyfriend Randy Reese (left) mows his lawn in Port Arthur on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005.

(Left) Randy Reese mows his lawn in Port Arthur. He said he wanted to return to normality and plans to make a sign touting the best-kept lawn following Hurricane Rita.
 

Lake Charles, La. suffers storm surge

Lake Charles was on the "bad side" (northeastern quadrant) of Hurricane Rita. As such, it was assaulted by both hurricane force winds and a storm surge of up to 15 feet above normal.


(Left) Casino boats at the Isle of Capri casino (bottom) were securely moored in Lake Charles, La. on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005. The Leberge du lac casino (top) has reportedly suffered more damage as most of the city remains closed to all but emergency workers.


Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise


The Isle of Capri casino in Lake Charles, La. remains damaged. It is likely to be operational soon. Wind and tree damage in Lake Charles did not appear as severe as in Texas' Orange and Jefferson counties.


Harrah's casino has severe damage to walkways, however the casino boats were securely moored near the hotel.


Harrah's casino (top) and a nearby marina (bottom) in Lake Charles remain damaged, however the casino boats were securely moored beside the hotel and are likely to be operational as soon as walkways are replaced.


People inspect serious damage at a marina on Lake Charles. Most remaining small boats were washed away by the storm surge during the Hurricane Rita.


(Left) The shoreline of Lake Charles, La. is covered with rotting fish and boardwalk debris while some downtown buildings maintained much of their integrity.



(Right) Many large fish remain rotting along the shores of Lake Charles.



(Left) The boardwalk along Lake Charles remains damaged as reconstruction begins on Harrah's casino across a cove in Lake Charles, La.



A petrochemical plant in Lake Charles, La. doesn't appear to have serious damage.

For additional coverage, please see Hurricane Rita's toll on SW Louisiana or Mark's Hurricane Rita visual timeline.
 

Boomtown post-Rita

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Chris Grantham with A-1 Tree Service of Memphis, Tenn. eats a beef enchilada MRE at the Boomtown USA campgrounds in Vidor on Thursday Sept. 29, 2005.


A camper trailer remains crushed under a tree at the Boomtown USA campgrounds in Vidor.


The Boomtown USA Waterpark and campgrounds in Vidor remains largely destroyed.

Regular readers may remember this image of the waterpark from May.

More Beaumont Damage

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Hollywood Star movie theater at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont remains destroyed on Wednesday, September 28. It's likely The building was hit by a tornado inside the hurricane.


Houses remain crushed under trees in Beaumont.

Recovery continues in Beaumont

(Left) Antonio Bonapart with Craig Lightfoot Tree Service of Dalto, Ga. removes trees from an apartment complex in Beaumont. Bonapart also cleared trees after Hurricane Katrina hit the central Gulf Coast last month.

(Below) Jimmy Hoover with Sidonian Tree Service of Texarkana removes trees from the property of Michael Jenkins in Beaumont.

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise




(Right) A crew cuts trees from power lines along Folsom Road in Beaumont on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005.

(Below) Workers with Pike Electric Inc work along Dishman Road in Beaumont. Entergy officials believe Beaumont's downtown and oil refineries may get electricity soon.

Salvation Army feeds Beaumont

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise


(Above) Beaumont residents wait for food from The Salvation Army in Beaumont on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005. The Salvation Army offered food, water and ice to anyone who requested help. Food, water, ice and fuel have been difficult to locate since Hurricane Rita hit.

(Right) Kenneth Taylor of Beaumont rides away happy with the food and water he got from The Salvation Army emergency disaster service facility in Beaumont. Although the hurricane damaged and closed the shelter, The Salvation Army continues to feed and provide other needs to area residents from an emergency response vehicle at the location.
 

Nederland Windmolen

The Windmolen at Tex Ritter Park remains damaged on Tuesday in Nederland Sept. 27, 2005. The city was settled by Dutch immigrants in 1897.

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Temporary communication

A Cingular Wireless employee talks on a cellular phone at a temporary cellular tower in Orange on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Sunk shrimp boat

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Retired shrimp boats are sunk at Esther's Seafood & Oyster Bar Inc by the Rainbow (left) and Veterans Memorial (right) bridges in Jefferson County on Tuesday September 27, 2005.

Groves

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Matt Cole (left) nails down a tarp on his home in Port Neches on Tuesday Sept. 27, 2005.


The Groves Community Seventh-Day Adventist Church remains seriously damaged in Groves. However, it has one of the few remaining steeples in the area.

Port Neches

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

PNISD emergency management representatives Lane A. Emmett (left) and Leonard Lapoint (right) work on plans to help the community on the Port Neches-Groves High School campus in Port Neches on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005. The three-man response team has preserved and delivered food from district schools to emergency workers and the community.
Emmett, who is also the district's director of transportation and safety, would like the district's school busses returned. The busses were filled with special needs residents, driven directly onto military airplanes, and flown to unknown destinations. He said they are easily identified with the district's name emblazoned on the side.


R. A. Ogden, 77, patrols his neighborhood for looters in Port Neches. He said he rode out Hurricane Rita for the excitement.
 

Orange FEMA site

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Soldiers with B Company of the 449th Aviation Support Battalion supply Orange County residents with food, water and ice at a federal disaster distribution site in Orange on Tuesday, Sept. 27.


Soldiers with B Company of the 449th Aviation Support Battalion supply Orange County residents with baby food, diapers, feminine hygiene and other necessities at a federal disaster distribution site in Orange.

Mauriceville Red Cross shelter closes

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise
A Greyhound bus prepares to evacuate Hurricane Rita survivors from the First Baptist Church in Mauriceville on Tuesday, Sept. 27.


Erin Marie Panttaja (right) and other American Red Cross workers express their disappointment as a Greyhound bus prepares to evacuate Hurricane Rita survivors from the First Baptist Church in Mauriceville. The Red Cross workers had used the location as an emergency shelter, but were forced to evacuate survivors and downgrade the facility to a feeding point after no relief arrived after several days.


American Red Cross volunteer Charlene Simmons helps prepare food for a food distribution point at the First Baptist Church in Mauriceville.