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| Weimar and Colorado County were returning to normal activities early this week after a wild four days, Thursday through Sunday, when the city and county were flooded with thousands of evacuees fleeing Hurricane Rita, Houston and the coast.
The first waves of the evacuation hit Wednesday and reached tidal wave proportions on Thursday, then tapered off Friday.
Weimar Police Chief Bill Livingston estimated "hundreds of people" spent Thursday night camped out in cars and vehicles as exhausted motorists stopped by the roadside, some out of gas.
Others were taken in by residents and stayed at private homes, while some stayed at churches and St. Michael's gym.
The return of the evacuees back to the Houston area started Saturday, although less congested than the trip out.
Weimar Public Schools reopened Monday for regular schedules after school was canceled last Thursday and Friday because of the hurricane.
A total of 183 evacuees from Hurricane Rita spent Friday night at the Weimar Veterans Hall.
Local officials closed the hall Saturday morning as evacuees left. Fishbeck Shell, Wildcat Express and Ellison Texaco all had gas early Saturday.
Earlier, Weimar City officials, meeting Friday morning, Sept. 23, said the Veterans Hall was opened that morning to temporarily house evacuees stranded while fleeing Hurricane Rita.
A number of individuals and civic organizations provided aid in the form of food for the evacuees.
Livingston said despite the traffic jam at the Weimar exit to the Interstate there were no major problems during the evacuation.
He said all seven officers of the Weimar police force were called in to work at various times.
On Thursday morning about 7 a.m. the westbound exit to Interstate 10 was closed, City Manager Randal Jones said, to allow city personnel to get traffic controlled that had flooded into the city.
"We needed to get the situation under control and protect the people," he said.
The exit was closed again Thursday evening when the stations on the Interstate closed at night.
Weimar volunteer fire fighters helped police direct traffic Thursday evening and early Friday. County road workers from Precinct 2 also helped out as did other volunteers, many of whom ran errands and picked up trash.
The county's EMS ambulance service was swamped with calls Thursday night mainly from evacuee motorists needing assistance for medical problems.
The Weimar vs. Brazos football game was canceled. Superintendent Mike Wallace said the game would not be rescheduled.
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| | Date Added: Wed Oct 05 2005 | | Last Updated: Wed Oct 05 2005 | | | | |
