RSS
|
Mobile
|
Daily Emails
|
We Twitter
| Make us your home page
Jody Powers spent the entire summer baking and freezing kolaches in preparation for Burleson County's annual Kolache Festival.
As owner of Zamykal Kolaches in Calvert, Powers said, she depends on the festival to give her business a much-needed shot in the arm after the slow summer. For months, she dedicated an entire day each week to baking the pastries, amassing about 2,000 in her store freezer.
On Tuesday -- days after Hurricane Ike roared across Texas, wreaked havoc along the coast, downed power lines across the Brazos Valley and prompted the cancellation of the annual Czech festival -- she was standing along Main Street, dancing in an attempt to draw attention to a homemade sign: "No Power! Please Buy Kolaches." Her kolaches still were tucked safely inside her freezer -- now powered by a borrowed generator.
"I have 2,000 kolaches. I gotta get out there on the street. I don't care if I have power or not," Powers said Wednesday as she sold the frozen pastries at curbside. "I'm selling frozen kolaches until I can power down or the power comes back up and I can start baking again."
Power slowly started to return Wednesday to Entergy customers in the Brazos Valley, and fewer than 4,000 were without electricity as of 8 p.m.
In Grimes County, 1,800 customers remained in the dark Wednesday, and Robertson County had about 437 customers in Calvert, Bremond, Franklin and Mumford without power.
The communities of Gause in Milam County and Normangee in Leon County also remained without power.
But lights began flickering on elsewhere. In Burleson County, emergency management officials reported that most of the county was back up and running, and Entergy reported just 125 customers in the county without power.
Madison County Emergency Management Coordinator Shelly Butts said power was restored to most of the Madisonville and downtown Midway areas Wednesday. Madisonville's hospital, schools and two nursing homes also had power restored, she said. The lights still were out in North Zulch, and the entire county had 588 customers without power.
"It's slowly coming back," Butts said Wednesday. "It's a wonderful feeling."
In Grimes County, Navasota spokeswoman Sarah Korpita said officials had been told that power would be on by Thursday for about 80 percent of residents.
Korpita encouraged residents to turn off the main breakers for their homes to prevent power surges. Those who don't know how to do so should turn off the air conditioning and unplug their refrigerator, freezer and anything else with a compressor to prevent damage that could result from a surge.
Milam County Emergency Management Coordinator Susan Reinder wasn't as hopeful when asked about the outlook for people in Gause, where Entergy reported about 284 customers still without power. Because it is a small community with no hospital or nursing home, it likely sits near the bottom of the list for restoration, she said.
Reinder said that phone service was back up and that the water system was operating on a generator. Ready-to-eat military meals had been ordered for evacuees remaining in shelters and seniors in Gause.
"They may have electricity in two days; they may have it in six weeks. We can't get anyone to give us an answer," Reinder said, explaining that residents eventually might have to be moved into a shelter. "We're just kind of assessing every day what we have and where they are."
In Leon County, rural residents living in unincorporated areas were "slowly but surely" getting power restored, County Commission Dean Player said Wednesday. In Normangee, however, things were less positive. Player quoted Entergy officials as saying that power could be restored as early as Friday and that 80 percent could be up and running by Monday. But full restoration could come as late as Sept. 29, he said.
A generator was hooked up to the Normangee water supply Tuesday night, but residents were under a boil warning.
"We've got a lot of people that's tired," Player said, explaining that agencies across the county had been working to help residents in need. "Everybody seems to be pulling together, and we're gonna get through it. We are very grateful for the fact that we aren't as affected near as much as those folks down south. Our thoughts and prayers go with them."
Late Wednesday, traffic lights began to glimmer in Bremond, Franklin and Calvert -- the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ike.
Robertson County Judge Jan Roe earlier in the day had praised the work done by municipal employees, county emergency management officials and the utility crews that were working 16-hour days to restore power. Most residents were expected to have power by the end of Thursday, with electricity fully restored Monday, Roe said.
Unlike those in surrounding counties, Robertson County officials were lucky to locate several generators early in the outage, preventing water and sewer systems in Bremond, Franklin and Calvert from going down. Generators also were powering nursing homes and convenience stores in the three towns, allowing residents to obtain fuel and minor food items.
Roe noted that area oil and gas companies, including Luminant and EnCana, had helped the county secure many of the generators in use. Volunteers in each community also have been serving daily meals, the judge said, explaining that each town had rallied around the people in need.
"That's what made it work. With just a little bit of help and some resources, the communities have taken care of themselves and each other," Roe said. "Robertson County has just truly glowed in this. They have been a ray of sunshine, sparkling and showing what they're really made of. I'm so very proud."
at a glance BOX:
• Madison County residents who are without power and need help should call 936-348-9116. Meals will continue to be served at the Madison County Fairgrounds and in North Zulch. Water and ice still are available.
• Milam County has established the Gause Disaster Relief Fund. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 203, Gause, Texas 77857.
• Leon County residents who get their water from the St. Paul Water District, as well as those living in Normangee, are under a boil notice until further notice. Water and ice are available on Main Street in Normangee. Ready-to-eat meals have been ordered and should be available by midmorning Thursday. The supplies also will be available in Centerville behind the courthouse annex.
Residents with questions or needs should call 903-536-4407.
• Robertson County residents without power can find hot meals daily in Franklin, Bremond and Calvert.
