By Lorenzo Salinas

l.v.salinas@panews.com

Hotels in the greater Port Arthur area continue to see abnormally high call volumes and resident stays in the aftermath of Harvey, where it is seemingly impossible to find any available rooms. Most hotels had also sustained some level of damage due to flooding.

City Councilman Osman Swati said all hotels in Port Arthur with the exception of one had their first floors flooded during Harvey. As such, it has impacted the number of people each hotel could accommodate.

Repairs and restoration work are under way at these hotels, but with the growing number of displaced residents in the area, it’s a process that many would like to see quickened.
“I’ve asked them if they could hurry it up,” Swati said of the affected hotels.

“Few hotels accept FEMA vouchers. The franchise can’t force the issue; it’s up to the owners to decide.”

Swati owns the Comfort Inn in Orange, where the hotel accepts FEMA vouchers from displaced residents.

“They have a 98-person waiting list,” Swati said of the Comfort Inn. “Some people are still getting vouchers but it’s worthless if there’s no room left.”

Swati said plants have taken many rooms for their workers in other hotels, which were originally served on a first come, first serve basis.

Swati said his own hotel is currently housing workers in the supply business, many of whom were delivery drivers for local restaurants.

“We have regular guests who come every day or week,” Swati said. “We’ve reserved 10 to 15 rooms for them. We don’t want to lose our regular guests.”

However, Swati said all other rooms are intended for those without anywhere else to go.
“I’ve told the manager that other than those (rooms), we are not holding any rooms other than for people with FEMA vouchers.”

In an effort to help stem the number of displaced residents, Swati said he has housed six families at his apartment complex on Hwy 365 “just so they could have a roof over their heads.”

In addition, he relayed a story about one girl who was enrolled in the Woodrow Wilson Early College High School in Port Arthur. She and her family were displaced because of Harvey and were ready to enroll in the Galveston school district because it was the nearest place they could find hotel accommodations.

School officials contacted Swati and asked if there was anything he could do.

“I understand how hard the (Port Arthur) school district worked to get that school open and operational…” Swati said. “So, it would be a tragedy if even one student was unable to attend.”

As a result, Swati found one room at the Comfort Inn in Orange for that girl and her family to stay, and thus she was able to attend school in Port Arthur. He said they were much more willing to make the drive from Orange to Port Arthur than from Galveston.

“I don’t have the resources to help everyone,” he said. “But I am doing what I can.”
Several hotels in the area were booked until next month while others like La Quinta Inn remained closed.