The evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita was the most awful thing I've experienced in my entire life. We had little water, food, and gasoline. It was 98 degrees and the car was breaking down. We felt so helpless just sitting there endlessly waiting on traffic that just was not moving.

My family was lucky in that the aftermath of the storm only inconvenienced us. We were away from home for three weeks because there was no water, sewer, or electricity. Trees and water blocked the roads. Stores would not open for weeks and even then, it was limited hours and many goods were simply unavailable. The despair and desperation was unbelievable.

And we in Southeast Texas received little help. Where was our telethons and donation drives? There weren't any. We were forgotten.