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10-15-2005, 06:54 AM
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#1
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Established Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Beaumont
Posts: 24
M.O.C. #3989
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The Montana survived Rita!
This is old news, since I have been off line for 3 weeks due to the evacuation and my computer being knocked off line.
Our Montana came in handy during the storm. We evacuated from Beaumont Thursday mid-day (the storm came in early Saturday morning) and it took us 36 hours to reach Dallas. That included an overnight stay at a truck lot in Lufkin (to get some rest after 17 hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic and to try to find more gas for the car we had along with us). We got the trailer last summer. I had only stayed in it at 5 spots up until Rita. I stayed in 5 spots during the days of the evacuation, including the aforementioned truck lot, a pasture in Buna on my way back, and my own driveway until we got power back. We brought back a Honda generator from my brother-in-law in Dallas, so we had most of the comforts of home. We came back the Monday after the storm - before Beaumont was officially reopened - since my wife is an RN and was needed back at the hospital.
The Montana survived really well. Don't leave home without one, especially for a hurricane evacuation!
The family is safe and the home sustained minimal damage.
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10-15-2005, 10:07 AM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cooper
Posts: 1,230
M.O.C. #3029
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Happy to hear everything is OK with your home. I know that it could have been a lot worse. We also latched onto the Monty and headed north on Wednesday as forecasters had predicted landfall around Port Lavaca or Matagorda before it turned east. I have family at Granbury, about 40 miles SW of Fort Worth and that is where we spent five days. Had two grandkids and in-laws with us. We came home on Monday only because we had no desire to get into heavy traffic coming back to the Houston area. Like you, glad we had something to sleep in and knowing that it might be all that we had to come back to.
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10-15-2005, 10:08 AM
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#3
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Cumming
Posts: 2,820
M.O.C. #919
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ome_strange_texan,
I'm glad to hear your Montana provided you with shelter during the storm and it's great news to hear your family and home came through the storm OK. RV's can certainly be of great use as shelter from the storm and then provide shelter during cleanup.
A month back I used my Montana doing disaster relief work at Lacombe, LA for two weeks. I am leaving out again on Monday with the Montana going back to Lacombe for another week. Last time we took a generator until we were able to get power. This time we will have power. We are going to be putting a roof on a home damaged during Katrina as well as clearing trees and other cleanup as needed in the area.
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10-15-2005, 01:57 PM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fallon
Posts: 6,064
M.O.C. #1989
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So glad you had your Montana to keep your family save. We try to keep ours stocked in case of an earthquake. We've always said an RV is use to rockin and rollin so an earthquake won't hurt it. Generator is next on our shopping list.
Happy trails........................
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10-15-2005, 08:07 PM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
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Lamar, what group did you connect with to do you volunteer work? Glen and I have been thinking of doing some work down there once we're home from our trip to Alaska, probably starting in Dec., but we don't know who to contact. Any suggestions? We'd like to take our Montana to live in.
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10-18-2005, 05:11 PM
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#6
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Established Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Beaumont
Posts: 24
M.O.C. #3989
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Let me just add a last few notes to this topic, for those who are interested:
* We were thrown out of the truck lot in Lufkin. A long story there. Let me just say we ran into a Good Samaritan and a bad Samaritan in Lufkin.
* For those of you who may ever have to evacuate from a populated area during hurricane season - Obtain and fill several containers of gasoline and/or diesel at the beginning of hurricane season and have on hand in preparation. Having just 10 more gallons of gas would have made all the difference in the world during the evacuation. This goes along with keeping your vehicles tanks full when a storm is "in the Gulf" or threatening the Atlantic Coast, wherever you may live. When we got to Dallas there were NO GASOLINE CONTAINERS AVAILABLE ANYWHERE. Fortunately, we borrowed some from my brother-in-law to back up the towing vehicle and keep the generator fueled for power for our return trip to the disaster area.
* Take along some real staples for food along the way - the evacuation may (and did) take much longer than you think. I got very tired of snack food.
* We had a dog (a Weimaraner) along for the ride. He was my daughter's boyfriend's pet. I think he alone among the entire group, enjoyed the experience! New places, new smells, and people around him in a trailer all the time!
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10-23-2005, 06:11 PM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Cumming
Posts: 2,820
M.O.C. #919
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jrgwdenner,
I just returned and found your post. The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention asked churches around the country to a adopt congregations in the storm area. Our church adopted a congregation in Lacombe, LA. We have been working with this local congregation since right after the storm. Intially we took in relief items, set up a satellite communication system and helped with disaster relief distribution. Later, we helped clear property using bobcats and chainsaws. This past week we roofed one home and repaired the roof on another, gutted a house that had been flooded and carried school supplies to the elementary and middle schools that had been collected through one of our local schools and the church.
We are planning another trip in a couple of weeks to gut addtional homes and start repairs on those that have been previously gutted.
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10-24-2005, 03:39 PM
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#8
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Established Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Beaumont
Posts: 24
M.O.C. #3989
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You folks volunteering for relief service are doing a very noble thing and your efforts are much appreciated. Those of you who are full-timers and are handy around the house/RV might consider snowbirding on the Gulf Coast in areas like Louisiana, Texas or Florida where reconstruction help is needed for at least part of the winter season.
Please do not forget East Texas, especially the inland areas, who were hit by 100+ MPH winds by Rita but have been forgotten to a certain extent by the relief agencies. There are probably areas of inland Mississippi in the same shape.
A classic case is one related by one of my wife's co-workers. She was shopping at a J C Penny in Fort Worth, TX. When the sales person learned that she was a hurricane evacuee, she was offered a discount, until she told them she was from Texas and not Louisiana. At that point, the discount was denied.
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