Sep 28 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Hurricane Rita destroyed much of the electrical system in southeast Texas, a blow that may cripple the region for months.

Without power, towns from the Gulf Coast to more than 50 miles inland can't pump water or gas, provide relief from record heat, or reopen schools, hospitals and grocery stores. As a result, thousands of Texas residents are being told they still can't return home.

A line of traffic Tuesday stretched at least half a mile back from Port Arthur on the main road, Texas 73, as residents tried to return home. When drivers made it to the front of the line, a state trooper ordered them to turn around. Only emergency personnel would be allowed into town, troopers said.

Alongside the westbound lanes out, seven or eight cars stopped as drivers pondered what to do next. Some wanted to look for other ways into town, including one woman who could see her home from the highway.

Corey Davis, 34, said he only had enough gas to make it a few more miles, perhaps to the next town, but he knew no one there to stay with. Davis had fled to Louisiana with his wife, Tamisha, and their children, 5-year-old Corey Jr. and 4-year-old Deiondre. The children were in pajamas and slippers in the back of their white Jeep.

"We're going to sleep in the Jeep if we have to," Corey Davis said.

In Port Arthur, more than 500 workers raised power poles and repaired feeder lines, but the main electric line into the city is beyond repair, said City Manager Steve Fitzgibbons. Until it can be replaced, electricity cannot be restored.

Once it is, hospitals and essential infrastructure, such as the sewage system, will get power first.

"If people come here and there's no food, no gasoline and the roads are blocked, they are going to be in a position where we'll have to be helping them. But we ought to be dealing with trying to get the city back on line," Fitzgibbons said.

The city won't be operational for at least 30 days, he said, adding that Port Arthur was getting scant help from the federal government.

Most of the hardest-hit areas get their power from two companies: Beaumont, Texas-based Entergy in the larger cities, and Sam Houston Electric Cooperative in many of the rural areas.

Rita largely destroyed Entergy's giant transmission lines, which carry electricity from Beaumont to Lafayette, La., said Terry Hadley at the Texas Public Utility Commission. It also ruined thousands of utility poles, wire spans and transformers of both companies. Many are in rural areas, where downed trees block access.

At least half a million Texas residents live in regions without power. In Jasper, officials said they've been told it may be two months before everyone has electric service. In Orange, Ken Kreger, the emergency management coordinator, said, "Every power line in town is down. The feeder lines in the town are down."

Kreger said he had no reliable estimate on when service would be restored. It could be up to two months, he said.

The power company brought in crews from all over the country, but with Hurricane Katrina damage in Louisiana and Mississippi, crews are pulled in many directions, he said.

Even communities that escaped most of the storm damage are struggling because of power shortages. In Livingston, about 75 miles northwest of Beaumont, utility workers have begun rerouting electricity from cities to the east. That allowed some gas stations to reopen.

But the local schools were without power, as was the local radio station.

Polk County Judge John P. Thompson, who runs emergency management efforts there, said about half the area remains without power.

He, too, said the federal government isn't providing enough help to restore essential services.

On Monday, three military helicopters were scheduled to deliver shipments of food and water. The first helicopter arrived six hours late, he said.

"They had a television camera crew and a still photographer with them. When they finished unloading and left, I got word that the other two helicopters were canceled," Thompson said. "That's when I knew we had been had. They got their press and left."

 

By Leila Fadel and Anthony Spangler. Fadel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported from Port Arthur. Spangler, also of the Star-Telegram, reported from Livingston. Reporter Chris Vaughn of the Star-Telegram contributed to this report from Orange.