Home > Hurricane Rita: Lufkin
Checking in.
Thanks to everyone for your blog posts. If you can answer anyone’s questions on this blog, please do so. I will keep it running for as long as people have questions or information to share.
Andy
Back in business
OK, we have our electricity back at the newspaper, which means I can finally get online to approve your posts and write an update of my own. We’ve also just tested our printing press, so we should be able to publish Monday morning’s paper at our own facility instead of somewhere out of town.
I’ve been running all over town this weekend. In fact, I was the only idiot driving on Frank Avenue during the hurricane, and I was just going from the city’s Emergency Operations Center back to the newspaper office.
Thanks to everyone for your posts. We’ll be sending our Hurricane Rita aftermath coverage to our Web site as soon as we get our stories written, and I’ll keep an eye on this blog.
New blog
Hello, everyone. We’ve set up this blog as another way for us to get information to you as quickly as possible, and for you to share information with everyone else.
Here’s what I know, from our vantage point:
— Hurricane Rita, a potentially devastating storm, is headed toward Angelina County. Exactly when and where it hits, and how hard, won’t be known until it actually happens. As of right now, it seems like the eye of the hurricane — the worst part — will be here Saturday night and might pass just west of Lufkin. (The bad part about that, apparently, is that the east side of the eye tends to be more conducive to tornadoes.) You should be able to keep up with the forecast on the front page of our site.
— We at the newspaper would love to bring you non-stop reports from the field, but for now we’re going to be working out of our homes and office. As long as we have Internet access (or even just phone access), we’ll be updating our Web site. We’re going to publish a Saturday/Sunday edition and try to deliver it tonight. We’re not going to try to publish or deliver any papers Saturday, but there will be a skeleton crew of us working to keep our information on the Web site as fresh as possible.
— Our next published edition should be Monday’s newspaper, and we think we should be able to get it printed — even if we have to do it in another city. Whether we can deliver it, of course, will be contingent on the weather, and how much damage Rita does to our roads.
I’ll be watching this blog for as long as I’m at a computer. This is my first blog experience, to be honest. I know that I’ll have to approve your comments before they’re posted, but I’ll try to do that as soon after you send them as I can. And remember that this doesn’t do us any good if I lose power and Internet connectivity; but, then, if I don’t have it then you probably don’t, either.
Stay tuned and be safe.
Andy Adams, Managing Editor
Latest comments
Gov. Rick Perry says “we’re turning the corner.” I wonder if he or anyone else, including this newspaper, has thought to ask the people affected by the storm, the people in East Texas still suffering a week later from no electricity and
... read the full comment by Elizabeth | Comment on Checking in. Read Checking in.
I weathered the storm in Newton. Yes, there was substantial damage in the Newton area. However, most of the homes were spared. There are a lot of trees down and there are very little, if any power poles and power lines still standing. It will take a
... read the full comment by Diana | Comment on Checking in. Read Checking in.
How are the Ca. smokejumpers doing in East Texas?
... read the full comment by J.McDougle | Comment on Checking in. Read Checking in.
Looking for information about Newton residents M/M Johnny Howard Gaudet. I have huge extended family in Rita’s path and these are two that I cannot find. What kind of damage did Newton experience? I heard it was heavy, but have learned no details.
... read the full comment by Raye (Kelley) | Comment on Checking in. Read Checking in.