Editorials

As the shelters in Tyler and Smith County began to fill with Gulf Coast residents fleeing Hurricane Gustav over the weekend, one thing became shiningly clear: East Texas' spirit of compassion.

Thousands of evacuees arrived in Tyler and were checked in through the center at Faulker Park, then directed to shelters. It wasn't a cold, bureaucratic processing; it was a real welcome.

Before he prayed over the meal at a Labor Day picnic held for evacuees, Rev. Ralph Caraway expressed well the sentiments felt by many East Texans,

"If it wasn't for this storm, we would never have had the opportunity to meet all of you," Caraway told the evacuees. "Y'all have blessed our hearts, and our prayer is for God to watch over you. This has been an opportunity for us to share and for us to become family."

The story of Ralph Thomas was particularly significant. Thomas came to Tyler as an evacuee himself, three years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. He liked East Texas so much that he stayed.

Sunday found him working with others in the East Texas Food Bank preparing pallets of food for new arrivals.

"It is a blessing to be able to help somebody else," Thomas said.

Something that made a real difference this time was the state's system of designating different communities to fulfill different roles. Smith County was named as the destination for "special needs" evacuees from the city of Beaumont.

"Special needs" evacuees included hospital patients, the handicapped and the elderly, and others without a way to get out on their own.

Because officials here knew what to expect in advance, the reception these people received was much more efficient.

Dr. Jonathan MacClements of Northeast Texas Public Health District reports that medical operations ran smoothly.

"This (emergency response) was planned well in advance and we have tremendous support of the community," he said.

Even the pets of evacuees were welcomed and cared for.

More than 200 animals were being attended to by volunteers at the facility Sunday. Some of the dogs came with their own food -- and some even with their own toys.

When the animals arrived, they were fitted with ID tags with information such as their breed, name and who the animal's owner is and what shelter the owner is in.

All of these things demonstrate the degree of planning and preparation that went into the weekend's efforts on behalf of evacuees. And at the same time, area officials were preparing for the foul weather to hit East Texas.

Agencies and organizations deserving special mention include the city of Tyler, Smith County, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the East Texas Food Bank, St. Louis Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Tyler, First Christian Church of Tyler, Green Acres Baptist Church, Glenwood Church of Christ, Directors of Volunteers in Agencies, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler Junior College, the East Texas State Fair, and many others.

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