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Small, rural towns hit hardest by Rita
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-27 21:45
Vinton Mayor David Riggins begged people over the radio not to return home
yet because it was straining the food and water supplies he needed for fire,
police and emergency crews.
Authorities said at least 16 Texas oil refineries remained shut because of
Rita. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont were without power, and a
second Port Arthur refinery was damaged and could remain out of service for two
to four weeks.
Quanishia Haynes, whose father died in the Beaumont apartment, said he and
his girlfriend's family evacuated to Mississippi as Rita approached. She said
they returned about 1 a.m. Monday because they ran out of money.
She and her boyfriend later found everyone in the apartment unresponsive. She
said it looked like her father, Billy Coleman, 46, tried to get out of bed and
was walking to the door when he fell.
Three siblings — Crystal Farva, 12, Demarcus Bean, 10, Alliyah Reese, 7 —
were killed, along with Coleman and Dianna Bean, 29. The children's mother and
Bean's sister, Irene Bean, survived along with her 8-year-old son Emery Reese,
8. Both were hospitalized in critical condition.
A neighbor said initially the generator was running outside the apartment,
but he said he overheard Coleman and Bean debating over whether to move it
indoors so the noise wouldn't bother other neighbors or get stolen. An apartment
manager said the generator was found in a closet.
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