On anniversary of Rita, Sabine Pass picks up from Ike

The Port Arthur News

September 23, 2008 09:54 pm

— By Amy Moore
The News staff writer
SABINE PASS — The tent outside of Kristi Heid’s house is serving as a makeshift community center. Behind the tent, Heid’s husband, Jerry, is sorting through his power tools in an attempt to find any that still function.
On the side of Heid’s house, or what is left of the house, is a pile of couches, tables, chairs and even a plant — all remnants of a life between hurricanes.
Three years ago Sabine Pass was nearly washed off the map by Hurricane Rita’s powerful Category 3 winds. Just over a week ago, the same small community was plunged under water and mud as Category 2 Hurricane Ike brought a storm surge of over 14 feet.
Heid, like many Sabine Pass residents, is once again picking up the pieces of her life in the aftermath of the storm.
As principal of the school, Heid is seen as a leader in the small community and said she doesn’t mind having people use her muddy front yard as a place to find assistance, a cold drink or even just a friend to talk to.
“That’s the beauty of a small community. We’re like family, everyone is just an extension of your family and friends,” she said.
The positive small town attitude and the experience from storms past have helped residents deal with the massive devastation caused by Ike, but Heid said many of her neighbors are still in a state of shock.
“I don’t think anyone expected another storm like this. Ike was worse than Rita with damage. Ike left vacant lots and it’s a whole new set of emotions. There’s not even debris to pick through. People are dealing the best they can. It’s just surreal that we’re doing it again,” she said.
The damage in Sabine Pass resembles scenes from movies that show war-torn towns. Brown, dead trees lean as though bowing. Buildings are shells of what they formerly were with roofs, walls and foundations completely washed away. The steeple of the church in Sabine Pass hangs wearily from the rooftop after the salt water that engulfed the building washed away its strength to stand straight.
Yet from the rubble and the mud, Heid hopes to restore some sense of normalcy in the community by bringing back students to the school.
“We know we’re not fixed. We know we’re busted, but our kids need security and that’s what we can give them at school,” she said. “They’ll get therapy here among their friends and teachers. They’ll get a sense of normalcy and their parents will get a chance to go back to work, or find a contractor or work on cleaning out their homes.”
In the three years since Rita, Heid said Sabine Pass residents have learned important lessons they are using to make it through the sweltering days and dark nights of devastation from Ike.
“We know more and are bettered prepared from the things we learned from Rita and that will help us recover from Ike,” she said. “We are two weeks ahead (of schedule) because we know what to do.”
The problem, she said, is that the government is not learning the same lessons or moving as fast.
FEMA has not made a presence in Sabine Pass since Ike’s storm surge brought upwards of 14 feet of water into the small community.
And many residents are still waiting on recovery funds for Hurricane Rita.
“They were supposed to give us money to raise our houses and we never got it,” she said. “Parts of Sabine Pass could have been saved.”
To the residents of Bridge City and Hamshire, LaBelle and Fannett, where Ike’s surge left thousands homeless, Heid said the only answer is to take it one day at a time.
“You put one foot in front of the other and maintain a positive attitude. It could have been worse. We could have lost a life,” she said. “There’s a reason for everything.”
Sabine Pass is still waiting to regain water services and the residents do not yet have power.

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