Hurricane Target Orange

Hey guys, Justin here. Jennifer and I are doing well, and we’re actually having one of the most relaxing weekends we’ve had in a while (except for the nervousness about what we’ll find when we get back home of course). We’re staying at my grandparents’ house in Alexandria, LA, where we’re still getting a good bit of wind and rain, but we’re well clear of the worst effects of the storm. We still have power and phone service (thus, this awful dial-up internet access), but no cable, so it’s tough to know what’s going on. The local news stations are pretty much just talking about what’s going on here, so we’re just trying to find whatever we can about Beaumont. It’d be nice to know if we might still have a house when we get back.

But anyway, good to know everyone is doing well. We’ll try and stay in touch. If anyone hears any information about when we can head back home, give us a ring.

klvi.com is streaming their broadcast…it’s in and out, but has good info and if you can get through on the phones, they’ll take your questions.

They did say earlier that water damage was nowhere near as extensive as they had expected, but the tree damage was worse than the ice storm.

Cliff’s mom got through to the Orange Co. Sheriff’s Department. They said that trees are down all over the place, gas leaks are everywhere, powers out and that no one should really plan on returning for 3-5 days.

Also, if you are a Verizon cell user, you can dial *611 and tell them you are from the disaster area of Rita and they will add minutes to your plan.

Update on the Verizon 611 number:

I called and they are allowing people to change their plan without extending their contract. If they have a better plan than the one you’re on, you can switch over to it without signing a new contract. You can also upgrade to a higher minute allowance plan without extending your contract.

Not as good as what I had heard earlier, but nice if you need the minutes…and definitely a better option than paying the overage charge.

The name of the tire shop in Mauriceville is Ben’s Tires right on the corner of Hwy 12 and 62.

If anyone from the Golden Triangle is interested in finding out more about their home, KHOU is filming the coast all the way from the West end of Galveston Island across Boliver and on up into Beaumont and Orange. The broadcast is spotty since it’s at the tail end of their tower reception, but it should be available to anyone at KHUO.com if you want to see the entire thing. From what Lori and I can see, it looks like most of the houses along the beach near Lori and Bob are still there. That means taht there are a whole lot of lucky home owners, praise God.

Reports have come to us that there has been damage to the First Presbyterian Church of Orange. The dome was damaged and some of the windows were broken. Other buildings in downtown Orange appeared to be sound - that includes the Lutcher Theater, the Stark House and the Museum. There did not appear to be any of the dreaded “storm surge” that they have been fearing. If we hear anything else, we will post it here.

My brother has a friend whose dad stayed behind and has driven through Cypress Bayou (across from LCM high school). He said there isn’t extensive damage (trees through houses; houses ripped apart). Also, since he could drive around, the ditches weren’t flowing over the road. He said they recieved a lot of rain, but the flooding was minimal.

Does anyone know anything about the Woodridge/Crosstimber Drive area of Mauriceville…i.e.5469 Crosstimber Drive?

Thanks, Joe

I can’t say I know anything specific about Mauriceville, but I heard there was just an abundance of fallen trees.

Please let me know if anyone finds out anything about my parents house in Greenway.

Thanks, Jessica King

KOGT is saying Greenway was bad, but we got word that my grandmother’s house on Decker was intact. Chris Olsen is a police officer whose mother lives directly behind my grandmother (her house is on Glenhurst). He had to get in on foot from 87 because of downed trees. I’ll talk to my mom again in half an hour and ask her more about that neighborhood.

Cliff, your parents aren’t in Orange, are they??

No…they’re in Lufkin. Dad lived there before he moved to orange in high school, so we have family there. My mom, dad, both grandmothers, and my great great aunt are staying there.

Lufkin is nuts in case you didn’t know. Three times the normal population there. No gas in the town. They shut down the wal-mart long before the storm came in because people were fist fighting in line and while people were in the store, others were syphoning their gas from their cars outside.

My grandmothers and aunt are going to stay with other family so it frees mom and dad up to get back to Orange ASAP. I’ll be heading down there when i get a chance since i will be able to get materials here (even a generator if necessary) that will be unavailable there.

Well I might just see you there Cliff. I’m hoping to make a trip sometime this week. Might not be until Wednesday night, though, if at all.

Hey hey everyone….I’m glad to see this.. Pick told me to check this site to get information because we haven’t been able to find out anything yet. We are stuck in Marshall, Texas by Shreveport. Everybody that I am with is curious if anyone knows anything about: St. Mary’s school on Bob Hall road, St. Francis of Asissi on Meeks, or anything passed the four way in Mauriceville? (8938 West Bend?)

Depending on when classes start back and the leniency of my profs, I might not make it till the weekend. Also, they might not open it up for residents until past then. My dad has been talking with Dupont…we think they’re doing whatever they can to get the workers back in town and we know they’re bringing in trailers and mobile homes for on-site living in case the workers’ houses are damaged past the point of being able to live in them.

I’ll post up here when i know more about when/if i’ll be going down there soon.

Dad is good. incidentally, i’m friends with the publisher of the Austin American-Statesman’s daughter - so i’ll call her today and see what’s up and if you can get in there. my house is standing and awesome, no fence, pine tree down, but great. my grandma’s house is similar. HOWEVER - i just heard that entergy is going into bankruptcy (through the grapevine, not on the news yet), so that REALLY, they don’t want people to return. my mom and grandma evacuated and are here in waco in a hotel, and my dad ended up staying. he has driven around and said that so many places are devastated - also, not flooding, lots of wind damage and damage by falling limbs and stuff. unreal.

KOGT has a new update as well as new pictures, but the site is impossibly slow. Is there a mirror somewhere or could you post that info here? I have the pages open so i can send you the text if you need it. I’m working on getting the pictures now.

That’s good to hear Natalie.

Cliff, go ahead and e-mail me that info/pictures. My username on here is email and of course the domain is walkerpickering.com… I’m sure you can assemble an e-mail address from that. (I hate spambots.)

Colby pointed out a video on CNN.com about Orange. If you go to their site, look for “Watch: Looters hit Texas town”. I also have a direct link, which may expire eventually. If someone can capture this video permanently, I’d appreciate it. I don’t have the software.

Funniest thing about this video: that stray llama is owned by the Spradlings, of Sprad’s Boat Town. And the house it’s in front of? That’s their house… next door to where my grandparents used to live and where my dad grew up. Pretty wild.

Thanks for all the updates! My dad got to tour the town briefly before returning to work as well. My family fared well with only minor damage. From what my dad said, his neighbors (behind north orange baptist chruch) also only had minor damage from what he could see (ie shingles missing). I hope that’s what most people are able to return to find. Good luck!

Does anyone know how the Cove looks? My parents (Chuck and Cora Sue Burch) live there. They are in Hemphill and safe, but we’re eager to know what it’s like there. I’ve heard that trees are down all over town.
Thanks for your help.

Does anyone know about Bear Trails yet, me husbands parents live there and all i can find is tress down

does anyone know about greenwood acres in Mauriceville and how the homes faired there, esp those up close to the front?

Just so everyone knows, I think the Orange Leader forum might be the best place to ask about property, as more people frequent it. However, I don’t think most of the people that are actually IN Orange are able to get online and answer questions, so specific questions might be somewhat futile for the time being.

See crazywalker.com/rita for relevant links.

Thanks for all the updates guys. Good to know y’all are doing okay.

As for us, it looks like we were extremely lucky. My parents braved the drive and went back into Beaumont today, and were able to check on their house and our house. Amazingly, though limbs and trees had fallen all around our houses to the point that you could barely even get to them, the houses themselves were virtually untouched. So it looks like as soon as power comes back on (which could be a while it sounds like), we can probably head back home.

From what my parents saw driving through Beaumont and Orange, it looked like a warzone. They filmed a little bit of it, and from what I saw I’d have to agree. Mostly trees, really. They were down everywhere, blocking off routes all over the city. We’re incredibly relieved, and feel quite blessed.

We’re still not sure where we’ll go from here. We obviously can’t go back home with no power, but I don’t know how long we’re going to stay here either. I guess we’ll see.

Y’all keep in touch.

Michael,

My uncle works for the city of Orange and was able to get into Mauriceville. He went by our house in Greenwood Acers and said that it was not damaged, and he said he didn’t know how; there were trees down everywhere. Our house is in the very front, the first house on the left.

Bryan

We live on Elma in the Pinehurst area, could you let me know if you hear anything about that area?

Hi, I would like to know if anyone knows the condition of the Newton county area by the Hartberg overpass. Please give me as much detail as possible. Thank you.

Hey everyone, yesterday we drove from where we were staying in Eunice La to Houston. Lake Charles and Orange looked extemely bad. All of our houses are safe in Beaumont, but it looks like this hotel may be our new home for a few weeks. I am glad to see everyone is safe

I was on the Orange Leader forums last night and I saw that you can go to www.southeasttexas.com and then go to classifieds and storm communications and you may be able to find out about your neighborhood or home. I don’t know how reliable the reports are but it might help.

Bryan: Thanks for your update. My mom lives close to you in Greenwood Acres. She is on the corner of Johnson Drive and Sparks Road. We haven’t been able to get there to assess damages. From what we hear, sounds like its bad, but not as bad as initially thought.

Thanks again! Good work Walker!

Mayor of Orange just spoke on FOX News…said that he expects 85% of roadways to be passable by end of day today. Also said not to come back if you can’t provide your own food/water/fuel for a while.

My parent’s house is on the north side of IH 10 on the service road between Doty Road and Burrs Barbeque. It is a red brick house with a white chimney and a black letter P on it. I would appreciate any information on this area.

How is northway mall and greenway subdivision ? Mockingbird street?

Northway shopping center was evidently looted (see CNN video). Greenway just depends on how the trees fell around your house. We got word that my grandmother’s house on Decker was not severely damaged.

Footage of some of Northway shopping center is on the one video I’ve seen on CNN.com. It appears to have been vandalized, but I couldn’t see much storm damage. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t damaged, however.

It’s still unclear how Greenway I and II are, but I’m sure many trees are down.

I heard that northway shopping center was wiped off the map. Is this true? When will people be allowed to go back?

I’m pretty sure that’s untrue.

Northway is still standing.

I need to know if my aunt’s trailer home is still standing with her cat inside. She lives on Church House Rd in Orange, TX. If anyone can check for me, PLEASE contact me!! 321-662-6832 THANKS!!

Folks, I know the search for information on individual homes is important, but I can almost gaurantee that you won’t be able to get someone to check out your house through this site. I would try the forums mentioned previously, and if it’s an emergency, please call 911.

Check http://kfdm1.com

Orange residents are allowed to return home…bring what you need for a month.

Cliff or Walker,

If ya’ll are planning on going back to Orange soon let me know. I will not be able to go but I am willing to send some supplies (i.e. food, water, etc.) with you. Also my brother is wanting to go back so if ya’ll could contact him and let him know if there is anything he can do.

Thanks,

Jessica K.

Just to let you guys know, Jennifer and I are now staying at my brother’s house in Spring, so that we both can be closer to Beaumont when they start letting us back in. We came all the way on I-10, and it looks like things are getting slowly cleaned up, although basically nobody has power. Hopefully that’ll come back soon as well and we can get back into our house.

Btw, the bridge going into Lake Charles is fine - we crossed over it on our way here.

Justin and Jennifer - We can’t wait to meet your baby!!!

Yeah, neither can we. =)