8/14/2019 Beaumont Enterprise Ike 09-22

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Inside: Power has been restored to 80 percent of Southeast Texans Page 3A

◆ Section designed and copy-edited by Tammie Hodges and David Constantine, (409) 880-0793 ◆

  WEATHER: Isolated thunderstorms, Highs: 80s, Lows: 60s/2A  

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

VOL .CXXVIII, NO. 322    THE ADVOCATE FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS SINCE 1880     50 Cents

MONDAY

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Advice ................6BApplause..............7A

Classified............7B

Comics ..............5B

Nation ................2A

Obituaries ..........6A

Puzzles ..............6B

Sports ................1B

State....................2A

Weather ..............2A

I N S I D EHundreds of evacuees

return to PA by bus: 6A

 Average price of a gallon ofregular gas in Southeast Texas: $3.63Price as of Sunday morning Sources: AAA, Oil Price Information Service

 Tempers flareHundreds of frustrated Bridge City residents flock to meetingfor answers; mayor has harsh words for Homeland Security chief 

 Sunday’s sermon reflects on devastating week

By KYLE PEVETO

 THE ENTERPRISE

  A quick fix will not cometo Bridge City’s housing problem, federal officialstold the town’s residentsSunday, because the federalgovernment will not providesmall travel trailers for floodvictims with unlivable hous-es.

  Without housing insidethe city limits, the town of 8,000 will “shrivel” and die,said Mayor Kirk Roccaforte,

 who had terse words aboutthe Department of Home-land Security’s secretary.

Hundreds of upset BridgeCity residents attended the

MEET, page 4A

New pastor atOrange churchhas message of hope for victimsof HurricaneIke during hisfirst sermon

Members of First PresbyterianChurch in Orange thought it wasfitting that during Pastor MikeUmbenhaur’s first sermon to thecongregation on Sunday morning he delivered a message of calm inuncertainty.

Hurricane Ike affected every church member when the stormblew through early Saturday, Sept.13, and flooded much of thecounty with water from SabineLake, including the downtownarea where the church is located.

Umbenhaur himself was watch-ing from a hotel room in Kerrville,

 wondering what his new ministe-rial job would hold when hearrived.

“Events of the last seven to 10days tell you … every aspect of lifeis subject to change,” he told thecongregation in a gym that wasconverted to a room of worship.

Completed in 1913 after eight years of construction, the copper-domed Lutcher Building, whichhouses the congregation’s sanctu-

ary and fellowship hall, was dam-aged when the roof leaked and

 water drenched the inside. Thestructure’s basement flooded.

On Sunday, yellow tape cor-doned off the entrance, and signsin the window warned of “micro-bial hazard.”

CHURCH, page 5A

Saltwater smotherslandscapeBridge City water surgeduring Ike wreaked havocon residents’ plants, yards

By SARAH MOORE

 THE ENTERPRISE

BRIDGE CITY — Laura Hintonisn’t happy with the roof damagefrom Hurricane Ike’s winds and

 water damage from the storm surgeentering her Bridge City home, butit isn’t what breaks her heart.

 What she mourns is her lovingly landscaped front yard, particularly the hydrangeas.

“Losing my hydrangeas is going to be the hardest thing,” Hintonsaid.

The salty surge that coveredmuch of Bridge City during Ike’sonslaught smothered yards, gar-dens and trees, cutting off oxygenand tainting the soil with saline.

 All over Southeast Texas, in places  where the surge intruded, trees,shrubs and other plants intolerantof saline are showing the tell-talesigns of saltwater incursion.

SURGE, page 4A

Roger Schroederwith Xtreme

Demoliton fromLufkin dismantles

a barge that is

blocking Texas73 on Sunday.

Valentino Mauricio/The Enterprise

Barge cleanup under way Demolitioncompany rips cargo

 vessels off  Texas 73

in pieces

By RYAN MYERS

 THE ENTERPRISE

PORT ARTHUR — The stretchof Texas 73 between Port Arthurand Winnie could open by mid-

  week after two barges droppedon the highway by Hurricane Ikeare cut apart and removed.

“We’re ripping them apart, onechunk at a time, and then we’ll

haul away the pieces on trucks,”said Jeff Fuller with XtremeDemolition, an Oak Island-basedmarine salvage company.

Ike’s storm surge pushed thetethered barges almost 10 milesfrom near Sabine Pass, dropping them across the highway nearEnglin Road. At Sabine Pass,

BARGE, page 5A

INSIDE

Church members volunteer their timeto help Bridge City residents clean uptheir homes: 4A

Dave Ryan/The Enterprise

Some home and businesses in the

Orange and Bridge City area suf-fered major flood damage from

Hurricane Ike’s storm surge.

By KYLE PEVETO ◆  THE ENTERPRISE

Valentino Mauricio/The Enterprise

Hundreds of Bridge City residents attended a Town Hall

meeting with representatives of FEMA at the Bridge CityCommunity Center on Sunday.

Members of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange listen to The Rev. Mike Umbenhaur conduct his first sermon on Sunday.

Valentino Mauricio/The Enterprise

Rich in faith

VIDEO

See the

demolition teamat work

BeaumontEnterprise.com