By SARAH CULTON
sarah.culton@leaderpub.com

Derrick Freeman, the mayor of Port Arthur, has been a very busy man over the last few weeks. Even when he steps away from his desk for a few minutes, his two cell phones, constantly buzzing, are never far from the palm of his hand.
“It’s always something,” Freeman said, pressing the mute button on one of the phones. “I even thought I would get to take a lunch yesterday, but things just got too busy.”

The aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey, which caused massive damage to the city of Port Arthur, is what has been keeping Freeman so busy.

Between organizing shelters for the displaced, bringing people back into the city and general disaster management, Freeman’s part-time job as mayor has turned into a full-time one.

However, now that some time has passed, Freeman said things have calmed down and he is working to bring a sense of normalcy back to the city and his life, despite the constant meetings and his phones ringing off the hook.

“For the first week, we were really in rescue mode, but now these past two to three weeks we are in recovery,” Freeman said. “We’re really trying to get the city back in balance.”

Having only been mayor for little more than a year, Freeman said he was not initially prepared for the large-scale disaster of Harvey, but that now that he has been working with federal and state agencies and figuring out their plans for rebuilding the city, he has a better sense of how to rebuild.
“When citizens ask me a question or what the plan is going forward, the worst thing for me is to not know,” Freeman said. “But the last few days, we’ve really begun to see the strategy of what the state, in conjunction with the federal government, will be doing for us. So, that’s brining in a little bit of balance.”

With the city being brought back to a sense of normalcy, Freeman said he is now able to bring his personal life back to a sense of normalcy, as well.

When Harvey flooded the city, Freeman’s home, which does not have flood insurance, was not spared. His wife and children evacuated to Austin to escape the waist-deep flooding, but Freeman remained in Port Arthur to manage the city and aid its citizens. When the flooded receded, he remained so busy with his mayoral duties that he was unable remove debris or tear up water-damaged areas of his home.

“Because we waited so long, we weren’t able to take out sections, we had to take everything out,” Freeman said. “My whole house is down to studs now.”

It has only been within the last few days, that the mayor has begun the task of taking care of his home with the help of local churches, he said.

Freeman said he is about 50 percent done with the task.

“It was hard for me to accept help, especially when there are so many people hurting out there. It’s hard for me to even accept this help,” Freeman said. “Everyone has been wanting to help, but I’d rather they help some other folks, like our elderly population or some single mother. I’m still able bodied, so I can still drag things to the street when I get the time.”

Currently, Freeman and his family are staying with his mother, which has prompted Freeman to attempt to create a better work/life balance.

“My mother did remind me that I am married, and that I need to make sure my wife taken care of and my kids are taken care of,” Freeman said. “I’m trying to wind [the work] down and make sure that my wife has peace of mind. We are working on it.”

Despite the stress that the constant mayoral work has put on Freeman and his family, he said he wouldn’t change it, as he feels a responsibility for Port Arthur, calling it a part of himself.

“It sounds kind of crazy, but I’m kind of grateful that I did have so much work. If all I had to focus on was my house, I don’t know what kind of mental state I would be in,” Freeman said. “Because there is so much work and so many people that need help right now, it’s real easy for me to compartmentalize the personal things. I care about this city, and I’m going to do what I can to rebuild it.”