Rita damage still grips Sabine Pass

Washington Post:

Nestled among some of the nation's largest petrochemical plants and gas refineries sits this tiny blue-collar community that thinks of itself as the forgotten victim of a forgotten storm.

Almost half of the 253 homes are gone; the other half are heavily damaged. The post office lies in splinters, and mounds of debris still dot the town. Small travel trailers cover the landscape, making this look like a campground instead of the permanent home to 750 residents, many of them roughnecks on offshore oil rigs or shrimpers on the Gulf Coast.

The Sabine Pass School reopened its doors 5 1/2 months ago, and ABC's "Extreme Makeover" crew rehabbed the local firehouse and the school auditorium. But the only grocery store, the only convenience store, the only gas station and the only hardware store remain closed. Just eight houses are occupied.

The good news: One of the two diners in town finally reopened last week.

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With Congress once again negotiating a supplemental appropriation that could send $11 billion to $20 billion more to the storm-damaged Gulf Coast region, southeast Texas officials and residents are working overtime to get a fair share of the aid. Texas officials, who received $74.5 million, or less than 1 percent, of the previous $11.5 billion allocated to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for hurricane housing recovery, are hoping to get $600 million to $1 billion this round.

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