Sunday, August 22, 1999
More storm scenes
Camping at the courthouse
County officials were concerned Sunday about potentially devastating flooding along the Nueces River and the few people remaining in Port Aransas, where even emergency officials have had difficulty with communications,.
"They've lost power for about half the town," said Chris Lawrence, the county's risk manager.
"The town was running on batteries and generators. They're relying on cell phones."
About 40 county officials holed up inside the Nueces County Courthouse late Sunday afternoon.
Although they have monitored Bret since Wednesday, Lawrence said they were expecting it to head toward Mexico instead of the Coastal Bend.
"The only one who didn't seem to be reading the forecasts was the storm," Lawrence said. "When it didn't turn, we got worried. I didn't even sleep last night."
A nasty surprise
Commissioner Joe McComb, whose precinct includes Padre and Mustang Island and Flour Bluff, was stranded in College Station Sunday trying to get two of his children checked into school. But two of his other kids were left behind at home for the weekend, and he wasn't able to make plans to board up his home or protect his moving company downtown.
"With two kids in Corpus and my business, my whole stomach is in knots," he said. "When we left town it was a category 1 storm going to Mexico. Then we turned on the TV here and it's a category 4."
McComb said his family has relied on cell phones because it's been difficult to call into Corpus Christi.
"We've been burning up the phone," he said. "I hope that I'm on that 500 minute plan."
Checking the employer
Musician Fred Jarmon parked on the Lawrence Street T-head and smoked a cigarette as he gazed out over white-capped Corpus Christi Bay just before sunset.
Jarmon finally was able to relax a little after boarding up his house and stocking up on supplies for Hurricane Bret.
"I was fighting the crowds at H-E-B in the primal hunt for food," Jarmon said, laughing as he looked out over white-capped Corpus Christi Bay. "Pretty amazing. Fifteen packed-full carts in every lane.
Jarmon, a musician, said he drove to the T-head to take a look at the Lighthouse Restaurant, where he often performs.
"I just stopped by to make sure my employer is doing well, because I'd sure like to come back to play on Wednesday," said Jarmon, who plays guitar and accordion in two bands: Jarmon and Carter, and Frankie and the New Aces.
The Lighthouse was in one piece.
"We got really lucky with this storm," Jarmon said, noting that the brunt of the hurricane struck south of Corpus Christi, in less populated areas.
Sheltering in Driscoll
About eight families sought shelter Sunday at the Driscoll School, most saying they left their home from fear of flooding caused by Hurricane Bret.
"I was scared because we heard it was going to come through Kingsville," said Ida Esparza, who gathered with her husband, children and grandchildren at the school at about 10 a.m. Sunday.
"We tried to go to San Antonio, but it was bumper-to-bumper so we stayed here."
While some parents fretted the day away, children enjoyed camping in the school's hallways on sleeping bags and pillows.
Four-year-old Monica Gonzalez was blissfully unaware of the possible storm while she watched "A Bugs Life" and played cards.
"There's going to be too much rain for me to stay at my house," Monica said. "And my dad broke the porch."
Before the storm, her father, Margarito Gonzalez, had used wood intended for the new porch to nail over his windows.
"We were nervous about staying because of the possibility of the destruction," Gonzalez said. "We came here to be on the safe side."
Media circus
More than 75 rooms at the Omni Bayfront Hotel were booked by state and local media Sunday, said general manager Jim Snow. The Omni Bayfront, the only hotel open downtown, housed crews from national news networks such as CNN, ABC, NBC and the Weather Channel and media from the larger Texas cities.
Snow also said three conventions, two Army conventions and a Texas Department of Banking convention, also were canceled because of Bret.
Full house in S.A.
San Antonio motels reported few vacancies Sunday night. Most of the guests booking rooms had evacuated the Corpus Christi area, motel clerks said.
Some arrived by Sunday afternoon, after seven hour drives along I-37. Others showed up as early as 4 a.m. Sunday, asking for early check-in, said Clara Jones, front desk clerk at La Quinta motel in San Antonio.
The hotel let guests in by 5:30 a.m., as soon as rooms could be cleaned, said Jones, who had no vacancies. Half the guests at the 130-room hotel were from Corpus Christi, she said.
"Lots of people were waiting on line for rooms to become available," said Lisa Cuya, whose husband, a physician, stayed in Corpus Christi to handle medical emergencies. .
Corpus Christi evacuees were jamming grocery check-out lines in San Antonio, Kim Koll, store director for H-E-B San Antonio #17, said Sunday. "E-mails have been flying back and forth about how busy we are at the other stores. We have all of the registers open. We've called in extra recruits, and we're getting extra groceries in."
An H-E-B bread plant in Corpus Christi that supplies the Texas grocery chain shut down. Koll of H-E-B said the grocery chain will rely on outside vendors until the plant can reopen.
Camping out
About 325 prisoners were evacuated from a Nueces County Jail early Sunday because the building is not believed to be strong enough to withstand hurricane force winds, said Nueces County Sheriff Larry Olivarez.
At the police dispatch center on the fourth floor of the police station, dispatchers prepared to camp out.
Sleeping bags and pillows were piled beneath a desk, and extra food was brought in.
"We're prepared to stay," said police Capt. Michael McKinney.
Should the electricity go out, the center will be powered by diesel generators, he said. Officials tested the power source Saturday and operated on it for 45 minutes without problems, he said.
Inchon island
The USS Inchon became the evacuation point for more than 700 sailors from the mine countermeasure and coastal mine hunting ships. The ship has provisions for 1,000 sailors for 45 days and has full water tanks for drinking water. At about 4 p.m. Sunday the ship pushed away from the pier at Naval Station Ingleside with about 1,000 sailors on board. During the storm most will remain within the berthing areas on board.
The Inchon originally planned to ride out the storm at sea, but technical problems kept the 600-foot ship in harbor. The smaller mine hunters are moored in a heavy weather mooring system at the base.
"The fact that we didn't leave turned us into the best evacuation area for the sailors on the other ships," said Cmdr. Bruce Watson, acting executive officer on the Inchon. "Because those ships are away from the pier, if anything happened to them the sailors would be going swimming. Once we get the rest of the sailors evacuated to the ship we will turn into an island until this blows over."
Islands virtually empty
Mustang and Padre Islands were virtually emptied by noon Sunday, and police were not allowing motorists back onto the islands, city officials said at a press conference shortly before noon.
The city issued an order prohibiting price gauging. Merchants will be prohibited from taking advantage of the disaster by selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine or other necessities at an excessive price.
If all local radio stations and television stations lose power, San Antonio radio station KXYX will provide radio service to Corpus Christi, said city spokesman Ted Nelson.
Utility crews are on standby in case of disruptions in service, officials said, and debris crews are making plans for cleanup.
Police are making preparations to monitor the streets for looting, officials said.
State of emergency
Corpus Christi city officials declared a state of emergency at 8 a.m. Sunday as Hurricane Bret drew dangerously close to the Coastal Bend.
Emergency officials urged Corpus Christi residents to evacuate the area - advice that thousands took as evidenced by lines at gas stations and heavy traffic headed out of town. Evacuation orders have been given to residents of Padre and Mustang islands.
The university was evacuated by about 9 a.m. Sunday, and all university activities schedule for Monday have been cancelled.
Thousands of Coastal Bend residents headed inland with shelters being set up in San Antonio, Austin and Victoria.
As of 10 a.m., Central Power and Light officials were reporting only minor electrical outages, said Jessica Mahaffey, CPL spokeswoman.
The Corpus Christi Independent School District has closed all schools for Monday, as has the Taft ISD. Del Mar College also will be closed on Monday.
