By Michael Stoll
mike.stoll@austindailyherald.com
A line of people waited outside the FEMA station set up inside the Central Mall in Port Arthur on Friday. Despite the number of FEMA employees working, the line never seemed to get any shorter as many people still need help.

But for some of those in line, it was about more than getting help. It was about getting answers.
“This is my second time (coming to FEMA),” said Port Arthur resident Carol Wommack, whose home on Golfhill Drive has nine inches of water. “The first time I had to wait over four hours. Today I’m back to bring information that they required. The National Flood Insurance will not pay for additional living expenses, it states that in its policy, but they wanted a denial from my flood insurance company.”

Wommack is currently residing in rental property in Nederland. On the night of the storm, she had to sit on her living room table as the water was rising in her home. She was rescued at 1:30 a.m. by a boat.

“It was a very scary experience,” she said.

Wommack described the relief effort as “very, very slow.”

“I have had no response from my insurance company and the very minimal first response from FEMA,” she said. “I am very frustrated.”

Her frustration is shared by Beaumont resident Brandy Corner, who was making her first visit to FEMA.

“We had the adjustor come out over a month ago and we haven’t got anything, any response,” she said.

Corner said she fled her house in the early morning after calls for rescue proved fruitless. She was picked up by a truck two miles from the house, which took on five feet of water.

Since then, she has had to move and is currently fighting the Beaumont water department over a $70 bill they charged her for water use between the storm and Sept. 15.

“No one has been home since the storm and I tried calling (the water department) a few days after the storm to disconnect the water and they didn’t because they couldn’t get out there until Sept. 15,” Corner said. “They’re charging me $70 even though no one has lived there and the house is damaged and I’m fighting them over that. It was a broken tab on their part and they’re making me pay.”

The lack of answers has compounded Corner’s frustration.

“Everything says pending, but we haven’t got any assistance,” she said. “When you try to call, you stay on the phone for three hours holding and you get someone who says, ‘Oh, your stuff is pending, just be patient.’ So, I’m trying to be patient and hopefully I’ll get some answers.”

Jeanette Marshall of El Vista is all too familiar with the slow recovery process. On Friday, she was standing in line to see FEMA agents for the third time.

“I need a FEMA trailer and I’ve been getting the run around coming back and forth,” she said. “I hope that this will be the last time because FEMA didn’t pay anything to help me rebuild my home. Nothing. So, that’s why I’m back again.”

Marshall said that the flooding at her home “creeped up” on her.

“You’re looking outside one minute and the rain is coming down,” she said. “Later on, the rain stopped, but the water was flooding into the house. All rooms at one time, just flooding. When I got out the house, the water was up to my waist.”

Marshall was rescued by a boat and brought to a nearby pumping station, which also had water in it.
Since then, her old residence has had to be gutted out.

“I really need assistance,” she said.

But not everyone has been frustrated with FEMA, such as Port Arthur resident Barbara Melancon.

“This is my second time (coming to FEMA),” she said. “I had my inspection a week ago Monday and that went really well, but I came to check and see how things are going because they said they wanted more questions answered, so I came to do that. FEMA’s been great.”
Melancon resided at the Willow Apartments when the storm hit. Living on the first floor, her apartment took in a foot of water.

“We couldn’t get in or out for two weeks because Jimmy Johnson flooded so badly,” she said. “(The flooding) was fine as long as the pumps were working. Port Arthur let us down. They didn’t keep those pumps working.”

During that time, the neighbors in the apartment looked out for each other, including a man who got boats from the Cajun Navy to bring him to his store so he could bring back food for the residents.

Melancon is currently staying with a friend in Groves.

“I’ll just be glad when my apartment is finished,” she said. “It’s going to take six months. It seems like a long time.”