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WEATHER: Isolate d thunde rstorm s, Highs: 80s,Lows: 60s/2A SEPTEMBER 19, 2008 VOL . CXXVIII, NO. 319 THE ADVOCATE FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS SINCE 1880 50 Cents FRIDAY at beaumontenterpris com The tastiest bits of Southeast Texas are on Ike online: BeaumontEnterprise.com AFTERMATH ANSWERS: Things you want to know WHAT’S ON: Search and share info with the online database for restored electricity WHAT’S OPEN: Database on what’s open and closed in Southeast Texas SHARE INFO: Videos, photos, forums and news alerts PHOTOS: Latest storm images VIDEO: Watch our latest storm videos HOME DELIVERY Delivery of The Beaumont Enterprise resumes today to most homes. Customers whose regular carriers evac- uated might still experience late or no delivery for a few more days. The Enterprise is available in racks throughout the region. Please go to BeaumontEnterprise.com for Coming together VIDEO ◆ See Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff’s Sabine Pass visit at Beaumont Enterprise.com INSIDE ◆ $351 million in timber lost to Ike: 4A ◆ Dead fish cleanup not an easy task for Orange: 10A ◆ Crews work to rebury caskets that floated out of con- crete crypts in Orange County: 13A Distribution kinks fixed, Chertoff says Peninsula residents gather in frustration By DEE DIXON THE ENTERPRISE FEMA has doled out more than $927,000 in aid so far to residents in Orange and Jefferson counties, a spokesman said Thursday. As of Thursday, 62,000 Jeffer- son County residents had regis- tered for emer- gency disaster assistance from the federal agency, and 20,938 Orange County residents had applied. The agency has disbursed $429,000 to those in Jefferson County and $498,000 to those in Orange County, spokesman Marty Bahamonde said. On his second trip to Beau- mont this week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said some kinks in the supply-distribution chain were corrected. FEMA, page 8A Crystal Beac h resident, Laura Wolfford, center , has an emotional reunion on Thursday with P aul Norton, left, and his wife, Cathy, at Market Basket on Texas 124 in Winnie. Valentino Mauricio/The Enterprise INSIDE Homeland Security chief holds news con- ference: 8A Weather helps Entergy make big restoration gains By DAN WALLACH THE ENTERPRISE Southeast Texas electric utilities scored big restoration numbers Thursday, though almost three- fifths of Entergy T exas’ service terri- had ticked by since Hurricane Ike’s landfall near Galveston, knocking out power to nearly all of Entergy Texas’s 395,000 customers across 26 counties. The Jasper-Newton Electric Cooperative, serving Jasper and restored power to almost two-thirds of its 17,000 meters, the coopera- tive’s spokesman said. By Thursday afternoon, Entergy had restored almost 150,000 cus- tomers, leaving almost 243,000 without power. Texas communications manager. “We are working the plan and making progress,” Caplan said. “The weather is cooperating nicely.” Jasper-Newton has had assis- tance from six “sister electric coop- eratives” who have provided a work By CHRISTINE RAPPLEYE THE ENTERPRISE WINNIE — Butch Leger of Crystal Beach wanted to know when he could get back in to see what he could salvage from his home and business. He called a few friends and neighbors to get togeth- er at the Market Basket in Winnie on Thursday, hoping to get some answers. MEETING, page 9A Sabine Pass residents try to pick up the pieces By RYAN MYERS THE ENTERPRISE SABINE PASS — Three dogs, three horses, hun- dreds of pages. At the converted beach bar he called home, retired football coach Neil Morgan’s third book was nearing completion. “I put some of the man- uscript in my truck when we left for higher ground,” he said, surveying the skeleton of his home Thursday. “The rest was in a little shed I used as an office. I don’t even know where that shed is now. It’s not where it used to be.” When Hurricane Ike roared ashore Saturday morning, storm surge here reached 14 feet. Many homes have all but disappeared, washed away into miles of marsh- land at the Southeastern tip of Texas. IKE, page 8A Sabine Pass resi- dent Diane Bergeron says her family will stay and rebuild after Hurri- cane Ike destroyed their home. Dave Ryan/ The Enterprise VIDEO ◆ High Island residents meet in Winnie to vent their frustrations related to Hurricane Ike at Beaumont Enterprise.com Matthew Danelo/The Enterprise Department of Homeland Secu- rity Secretary Michael Chertoff, center , tours the F EMA stag ing area Thursday at Ford Park.
