Online Story Contribution, Hurricane Digital Memory Bank

We were one of hundreds of thousands that took to the highways trying to outrun Rita. I work at the Johnson Space Center and the Wednesday before the storm, we reported to work in order to secure the site and prepare it for the storm. Thoughts of the damage the storm could do weighed heavily in all our minds. After securing the laboratory where I work, we all said goodbye and wish each other luck, inquiring where we were going and how to get in touch with each other. At 6:00PM, my husband, our cat and I hit the road. It took us 21 hours to reach Lawton, OK where my brother was stationed at Fort Sill, a journey that should not had taken more than 8 hours. Along the way we saw the best in people and the worst in people. I will always remember the young woman nine months pregnant whose doctor referred her to Dallas for her scheduled C-section, she was begging a gas station attendant to sell her a bottle of water. They wouldn\'t even open the door, a man approached her and offered to sell her a gallon of water for $30. She didn\'t have $30. Her mother in law, who was with her, approached us to offer a few dollars for a bottle of water. We gave her a few and refused her money. A few hours later, we stopped at another gas station, where the attendant had sold her last drop of gas, but kept the store open, so people could use the restrooms and kept the coffee pot going, sometimes not charging for it in order to do whatever she could to help. When we reached Lawton, my brother took us to dinner at a local restaurant and introduced us to the hostess, who is his acquaintance. As soon as it was mentioned, that we had come from Houston, the restaurant manager introduced himself and found us a quiet corner and offered whatever help he could give. Everybody we met during those days, at the hotel, at the stores, etc. treated with love and respect. Will we evacuate again? Maybe.

Citation

“Online Story Contribution, Hurricane Digital Memory Bank,” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, accessed November 23, 2024, https://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/2066.

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