[Online Extra] Hurricane Rita Impact

Update From TPCA

Ken Myers, executive director of the Texas Pest Control Association, reported that as of Oct. 3, electric service, water and sewer were beginning to come back on line in Southeast Texas. TPCA sent out a mailing went out to Chapter 8 members in early October, asking them what they need and what, if anything, TPCA can do to help. Myers also enclosed the information on the funds raised nationally through NPMA so members can apply for financial aid if needed. In addition, Myers told PCT that TPCA members have offered jobs, either temporary or permanent, to those who do not have work at this time.

HOUSTON — Gulf Coast residents, many of whom were still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, were dealt a major blow when Hurricane Rita swiped the Texas and Louisiana coasts on Sept. 24 as a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour.

Here’s a look at Hurricane Rita’s impact from an MSNBC report:

• Some of the worst flooding occurs along the Louisiana coast, where transformers explode, roofs are torn off and trees uprooted by winds topping 100 mph. Floodwaters are 9 feet deep near the town of Abbeville.

 

• A tornado that spun off the remains of the hurricane kills at least one person in Humphrey County in northern Mississippi.

 

• Rita knocks out power to more than 1 million customers, including nearly 300,000 in Louisiana.

 

• About 500 people are rescued from high waters south of New Orleans, some by helicopters.

Source: MSNBC

 

Gas Prices Rise in Rita’s Wake.Retail gas prices rose an average of 10 cents in the past two weeks as Hurricane Rita idled refineries along the Gulf Coast, squeezing production capacity already hurt by Hurricane Katrina, the nationwide Lundberg Survey said.

 

The weighted average price for all three grades rose to $2.93 a gallon on Oct. 7, compared to the previous survey two weeks earlier, said Trilby Lundberg (search), who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey (search) of 7,000 gas stations around the country.

 

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Rita-Impacted PCO Begins Recovery Process
BEAUMONT, Texas — Ed Boone, owner of Security Pest Management, Beaumont, Texas, tells PCT that slowly but surely his company is recovering from devastating Hurricane Rita, which took a direct hit on his community.

Boone, a second generation PCO, said his community did not suffer tremendous flooding but damages caused by 125 mile per hour winds. It’s taken the Beaumont area about three weeks to recover from the storm and Boone says that both the community and his business began returning to normal on Monday. Boone says he was appreciative of NPMA for distributing cash to his employees to help them get through the past three weeks in which his business was out of commission.

 

Boone says that many of his customers worked in the refineries and some have not returned to work, so his customer base has still not been fully restored. Another challenge Boone faces is a labor shortage. “There are so many lucrative jobs in construction and remodeling right now. We are competing with roofing guys who are offering $18 per hour.”

 

Despite these challenges, Boone believes he has turned the corner. “We’re roaring back strong now,” Boone said. “We’ve been getting calls for spiders and cockroaches and ant mounds are popping up all over the place.”