'\f\lfhere will storm hit?
THE BATTALION Page 3
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1977
State readies for Anita
United Press International
AlSTlN — Gov. Dolph Briscoe
id several other state officials yes-
lay announced emergency plans
ie event Hurricane Anita strikes
Texas Gulf Coast.
iVeare ready,” Briscoe said. “At
point we have no way to know
eachofljli direction the storm will go,
fast it is going to move, or
er or not it’s going to hit the
as coast, but all precautions pos-
are being taken. ”
riscoe said he had suspended
e regulations forbidding the
'ement of over-sized mobile
les in the coastal area so that
»ns living in the homes who
, ted to evacuate would not need
“tCoifi, nits. The suspension was re-
pm. inn ted to the Gulf Coast area.
Gen. Thomas S. Bishop of
Texas National Guard said 2,400
dmen already were on alert in
th Texas with a two hour de
ment capability.
eorge Hill, division manager for
Red Cross, said 60 workers al
ly were manning 25 emergency
ters from Beaumont to Corpus
sti and that 35 emergency vehi-
were ready to move into the
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area behind the hurricane.
Officials in the State Department
of Health said it had stockpiled
medical supplies in the area and was
prepared to move in sanitation
equipment.
The Texas Railroad Commission
indicated it was prepared to move in
before the storm to check oil and
natural gas pipelines to decide if
they should be shutdown.
Officials in the Parks and Wildlife
Department said it had 70 wardens
on the coast who were securing
equipment. They also said 50 water
safety boats were ready to move in
behind the storm in case of lowland
flooding.
Col. Wilson S. Speir, head of the
Department of Public Safety, said
500 officers already were in the
coastal area and that force could be
expanded to up to 1,500 officers if
necessary.
State Insurance Board chairman
Joe Christie said he had asked in
surance companies to be fully pre
pared for any emergency demands
from Anita.
“I have been assured that insur
ance companies and their represen
tatives have been preparing for any
situation that might develop with
Anita,” Christie said.
“It is my expectation that claims
will be handled as fast and effi
ciently as possible, and that hard
ship cases will be considered a top
priority.
An insurance industry spokesman
said Texas insurance industry repre
sentatives have been monitoring
Anita’s storm activity and have im
plemented emergency procedures.
The spokesman said catastrophe of
fices for handling claims will be es
tablished if needed and extra per
sonnel have been contacted.
“All insurance claims will be dealt
with as expediently and as effi
ciently as circumstances allow,” the
spokesman said.
Anita "dear’ for oil
companies in Gulf
Canteens opened
United Press International
DALLAS — Salvation Army can
teen emergency centers were
opened in nine cities yesterday to
accommodate any evacuees of Hur
ricane Anita.
Maj. Raymond Cooper, state dis
aster director for the Texas branch
of the religious organization, said
facilities in Port Arthur, Orange,
Beaumont, Galveston, Houston,
Freeport, Corpus Christi, McAllen
and Harlingen would remain open
“for as long as the emergency lasts.”
Cooper said the Army’s command
center would be located at Corpus
Christi.
Anita, which became a hurricane
only Tuesday, was moving slowly
westward toward the Texas coast
yesterday at about 5 miles per hour.
It was located about 350 miles
southeast of Corpus Christi.
lalveston business
repares for Anita
United Press International
ALVESTON — Veterans of
ir hurricanes took a few prelimi-
precautions yesterday, but
wise played a waiting game as
ta, destination unknown, coiled
punch in the Gulf of Mexico,
oad closings, orders to evacuate
lying areas and other harbin-
of possible trouble affected re-
irant and hotel business in this
id tourist town, but not always
;atively.
People who aren’t natives are
oming alarmed, and they are
ting town,” said Benno Deltz,
lager of Gaido’s Restaurant on
beachfront. “It’s not alarming
(to the natives).
It has helped our business. We ll
on cooking. We re still kind of
mg and watching. We re fully
pared to go into boarding up
cedures but right now we re
as usual. . . just watching the
rdinates.”
cenllPob Cowan, resident manager of
Flagship Hotel, a seven-story
icrete and glass structure
ched on piers over the Gulf of
ixico, agreed. But, he said, he
experienced some cancellations.
one two-hour span yesterday,
wan said he had 20 of 200 rooms
iceled, cutting into what was a
y booked Labor Day weekend.
Ilhey (hurricanes) don’t bother
ie too much unless they’re like
said Cowan. “That was
50-200 mile-an-hour winds (in
- 961). This little one won t bother
Jane.
The thing that bothers the locals
the tornadoes (accompanying the
rricane). Winds we can stand, but
ire’s nothing you can do about the
nadoes.”
Cowan and his staff took prelimi-
ry precautions.
We took down the equipment
e the wooden chairs at the pool,
e cans and such,’’ Cowan
d. “Anything that isn’t tied down
have to put it up so it won’t be-
me flying missiles.
We’ve got a lot of glass, but it’s
larter-inch glass and it would take
onger winds than anticipated to
leak it.
rUnless it sits out there and
uilds up to 150-mile-an-hour
tinds,” Cowan said he planned to
de it out. In the event of 150-mile
winds, “then I’ll probably go to
Houston (45 miles to the north). ’
At the old Hotel Galvez, a giant
frame 1920s hotel that has weath
ered many a storm, manager
Charles Maurins was calm.
“We have made just preliminary
preparations for a small storm, tap
ing windows, securing flying ob
jects, getting furniture off the
ground and securing, eventually,
leaks. That’s about all,” Maurins
said.
“We have had several storms and
this is one of the safest places in
town. I have been through several
hurricanes — the last big one — and
never failed for one minute to do my
job and I hope I will be doing that
exactly also through this little
storm.”
United Press International
NEW ORLEANS — Each day
Hurricane Anita lingers in the Gulf
of Mexico, the nation’s supply of
natural gas is reduced by more than
2.5 billion cubic feet, and crude oil
production is cut better than nine
million gallons.
The petroleum cutbacks are the
result of oil companies being forced
to evacuate 7,000 workers from
offshore drilling platforms in the
Gulf.
“You have to figure the cost of
helicopters and crew boats to get
the men in to shore and then you ve
got the cost of housing them and
feeding them once they get there,”
said a spokesman for one of 46 com
panies licensed to operate in the
Gulf.
“On top of all that, you’ve got the
lost production, because you’re still
paying these people salaries. Your
guess is as good as mine, but I can
tell you this: It’s costing a pile.”
A spokesman for Gulf Oil said his
company alone was losing $1 million
per day during the hurricane evacu
ation. But, most other companies
were unable to even guess their
total losses.
Brian Toal of Shell said his com
pany evacuted 558 offshore workers
and was losing about $500,000 per
day.
“That’s only a very rough ball
park figure,” Toal said. “The biggest
cost for us is the idle rental rig
equipment. The rental cost is even
bigger than salaries, transportation
or lodging.”
Aside from those costs, there is
the temporary loss of gas and oil
production.
Before the drilling platforms were
evacuated, workers completed
“shut in operations which halted
the flow of natural gas and crude oil.
Wells were closed to prevent pollu
tion that could occur if the platform
were damaged.
Several oil companies refused to
reveal their production figures, but
officials of four firms said they lost a
combined daily total of 2.5 billion
cubic feet of gas and 215,000 barrels
of oil.
A barrel of oil contains 42 gallons
of crude so the amount of petroleum
being halted by just those four com
panies was 2.5 billion cubic feet of
gas and nine million gallons of oil.
“But this isn’t really Tost’ produc
tion,” Toal said. “This is really de
ferred production. We re going to
get (the oil and gas) back sometime
during the life of the field. ”
Dave Tayrien of Amoco Produc
tion Co. said costs of the evacuation
were high, but predictable.
“This is something you have to
expect this time of year, he said.
“This is part of the cost of doing
business in the Gulf of Mexico.”
(Continued from Page 1)
though. I’ll just board up by shop
(surfing equipment rental) and go
home. I’ve got a pretty good home.
The National Weather Service
has recommended evacuation of
low-lying areas along the coast, but
no wholesale move inland has be
gun.
Mike Yuras, salesmen in a sport
ing goods store in Corpus Christi,
said people were stockpiling
gasoline and buying camp stoves,
flashlights, lanterns, and batteries.
“After the storm hits, the electric
ity is always off for three or four
days,” he said. “The lumber com
panies are going crazy with busi
ness.
“About 80 per cent of the people
here have been through one or two
hurricanes. The people who haven’t
been through one are the ones that
are panicking. They’re calling
everybody. Their fear is the fear of
not knowing what to do.
“What they need to do is protect
their investment and then get out of
here.”
Yuras said there is some evidence
of hurricane parties and surfing in
the high tides.
“That sort of thing always goes
on, no doubt,” he said. “Hurricane
parties. Those people are fools,
gambling with their lives. I think it’s
kind of sick. ”
L.C. Oldham, operator of a surf
ing, shop on the beach at Galvestoh,
said many people are driving along
the sea wall — which was built be
cause of the devastating turn of the
century hurricane with killed 6,000
to 8,000 — watching the waves.
“Tm not renting any surfboards,
but just because I won’t,” he said.
“These kind of waves, they just tear
them to pieces.
“A lot of people are afraid of Gal
veston Island and they always have
been since 1900. Me, I’m not look
ing for it to hit here. I’m looking for
it to go south. But if it turns this
way, I’ll just board up and go home.
I’m on high ground.”
Yarbrough misses
civil hearing
United Press International
HOUSTON — Former State Su
preme Court Justice Donald B.
Yarbrough failed to show up in court
yesterday for trial in a civil suit al
leging he failed to pay about $190 to
a personnel agency.
County Court-at-Law Judge
Hugo Touchy, after a three minute
trial, found that Yarbrough owed
the money to Lyman Personnel
Services, Inc. He ordered Yar
brough to pay the money plus $75 in
attorneys’ fees. Yarbrough had de
nied owing the money.
Steven W Powell joins the team
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Charles Thomas & Associates.
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serve your personal or business insurance needs.
Charles Thomas & Associates.
520 E. University Drive
College Station, Texas 77840
Telephone: (713) 846-7714
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