Need drivers for evacuation buses? Just ask the people wanting to leave. That's how it went for the last batch of people out of Orange County, Texas:
Because the two buses, provided by Southeast Texas Transit, did not come with drivers, [emergency management coordinator Ken] Kreger asked who among the group had driver's licenses, and four people raised their hands. [Joyce] Gibson and another woman were selected as the drivers.
Gibson said she was nervous about her mission, but she added that she knew how to drive both an automatic and standard vehicle, so the bus should pose no problem.
Just as the buses were about to drive away about 9:40 a.m., Kreger stopped one of the vehicles as he saw a new arrival, a lone elderly man who had been picked up from his home and taken to the sheriff's department for evacuation.
Gibson, a housewife who'd had a hard time convincing her sick husband to evacuate, did a fine job of rising to the occasion.
UPDATE The Beaumont paper's got all kinds of good stories this morning, including this one about a man who was sitting out Rita in his trailer, when he had a sudden change of heart.
Posted by floridacracker at September 24, 2005 07:20 AM