East Texas

By PATRICK BUTLER Religion Editor The pains of living through Hurricane Rita three years ago were enough to drive two families along with friends and relatives northwards, members of the two families said on Monday.

As Hurricane Gustav gathered itself to grind into the Gulf Coast on Monday evening, they had no intention of leaving East Texas early.

Still recovering from Rita was the reason Phebia Yarbrough came to Smith County. The Beaumont Independent School District bus driver headed to Smith County on Sunday before Hurricane Gustav could make her memories even worse.

It's been a stressful time, she said at Lindale's Hampton Inn on Monday.

"If there were about seven years since Rita, it would be easier," she said, as she eyed a big-screen TV in the lobby of the hotel with the latest news about Gustav. "But this is too soon. It's been a very stressful three years trying to recover from Rita, and now this."

She kept her eye on the TV as her granddaughter, Mya, 6 years old, and her friend Asanti -- who would not give her last name, also 6, played in the lobby.

While the elder Yarbrough was dealing with her recollections, the girls said living in a hotel was "awesome."

"We swim in the pool, we watch TV, we go to restaurants to eat, we do puzzles," said Mya, as Asanti assented. "It's awesome."

But the girls don't have the memories of rushing in front of a hurricane and being caught in crowds of fleeing "evacuees" rushing up Highway 69 to Lufkin, like Ms. Yarbrough had three years ago. They don't remember their empty home being broken into and their things stolen as she does.

"Half of my house was gone by the time I got back home," the Beaumont native said. "This time, I have family and friends who stayed behind to keep an eye on it."

In spite of the stress, she wouldn't consider moving, she said.

"No, no, no," she said with a smile. "I was born there. It's my home."

The Hampton Inn wasn't full on Monday night and was not likely to fill up, said the desk clerk. The hotel has 58 rooms and 20 were empty. Cancellations had left the remainder with no takers.

A similar situation was found at the newly built La Quinta Inn, just north of Interstate 20. There was plenty of room at the Inn, said Beth Hukill, the front desk clerk.

"We have 62 rooms and 45 of them are filled," she said. "People have been calling and canceling all afternoon."

But as clouds slowly gathered over Tyler and winds started picking up in the 90-degree heat at 5 p.m., Tom Mallett of DeQuincy, La. wasn't thinking of packing up and heading home. Having booked five rooms at the hotel for family and friends, Mallett was out on the access road to La Quinta grilling burgers on the tailgate of his pickup for the evening meal.

"Why not grill?" he said with a smile. "We got to eat, and everyone's here. This spot is as good as any."

With a phone device in his ear, Mallett was keeping in touch with family back in DeQuincy, located about 27 miles northwest of Lake Charles. His memories of Rita were too fresh as well, to take a chance on Gustav.

"When Rita hit, we went to Gulfport," he said, expertly flipping a burger as mild winds blew pleasant-smelling clouds of smoke back into his face. "But it was a hard trip. This time, we came to Tyler. I came on the backroads and it only took about four hours. The only problem we had were gas stations that were out of gas."

Standing with Mallett to collect the cooked meat were Viveca Green and Cheryl McCoy, both of DeQuincy, who both made the trip up to Tyler with their families. Neither was overly concerned with the interruption of their lives by the hurricane.

"Rita was enough," said Mrs. Mrs. Green, who came with her 20-year-old son, Ryland and 18-year-old Melanie. Mrs. McCoy and her daughter Kenya stood by in silent agreement.

"If we were at home, we'd be interrupted there too," said Mallett as the women nodded. "We'd rather be here."

Tyler was a good choice, he said.

"The people in Tyler have been good to us," he said. "They don't talk down to us, like some do when they know you need them and can't go somewhere else. The people at this hotel have been very, very, helpful and considerate, doing everything they can do to help us and make us feel comfortable."

Mallett's daughter, Shatoria, 18, is a student at Tyler Junior College, and came by to see her dad. Gustav actually made life more convenient for her.

"This is great," she said with a smile, as she leaned her head on her father's arm. "I was going to go home for Labor Day, but daddy came here."

Both Phebia Yarbrough and Tom Mallett said the orderly evacuations made the trip up to relative safety much easier. It cost about $130 to fill up his pickup, Mallett said. Having help to bear the cost of fuel would have been appreciated, Ms. Yarbrough said.

"We were under a mandatory evacuation order," she said. "It would have been helpful if someone had given us a gas voucher or something, instead of making us pay for it on top of everything else we had to pay for."