From: clarinews@clarinet.com (MARK LANGFORD)
Newsgroups: biz.clarinet.sample,clari.news.weather,clari.local.texas,clari.news.disaster,clari.news.top
Subject: Texas prepares for Andrew
Keywords: general weather, weather, municipal goverment, government,
	severe weather, trouble
Date: 25 Aug 92 23:19:40 GMT
Followup-To: biz.clarinet.sample
Location: texas
ACategory: national
Slugword: andrew-texas
Priority: major
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 458; Id: z6633; Sel: txnww; Adate: 8-25-615pcd; V: sked
Codes: &nwwrtx., &ngcrtx., &nbwrtx.


	 BEAUMONT, Texas (UPI) -- Julie Westrate, who moved from New York in
March, got her first taste of legendary Texas weather Tuesday.
	Hurricane Andrew threatened to knock on the doors of the Holiday Inn
where she works in Beaumont.
	The motel was nearly full Monday night, she said, but Tuesday almost
everyone had checked out including some of the hotel staff.
	``Housekeeping took off like a shot,'' Westrate said. ``Everybody on
housekeeping left.''
	She said she had never experienced anything like it. She said she had
a room blocked off for tonight but she may go home anyway.
	Peg Sylvester, the hotel's general manager, said 174 rooms had been
booked the previous night but 164 of them were emptied Tuesday.
	Sylvester said 90 rooms were being prepared for 180 employees and
contractors of Gulf State Utilities Co. who will ride out Hurricane
Andrew and be available to repair utilities damaged by the hurricane.
	``I feel like I've taken one step forward and three steps back all
day,'' she said.
	Police said it is operating under what it called ``emergency
circumstances,'' meaning all officers who are off-duty or are on
vacation have been ordered to report to duty by 7 p.m.
	Some telephone lines in the city have been disrupted and the officers
were being summoned with the help of radio broadcasts.
	``We've got a big traffic problem this afternoon. If you're going
North Bound ... it's really a mess,'' one officer said.
	The city has arranged for buses to evacuate senior citizens before
Andrew's impact is felt. Buses have been leaving from elementray schools
and others were scheduled to leave later this evening.
	``I've lived in Beaumont all my life and this is the first time I've
ever done this,'' said one resident, referring to the evacuation plans.
	Around town, retailers reported doubling of gasoline sales as
residents topped off their cars' tanks in preparing to leave town. Brisk
sales were also reported for emergency items like ice, gasoline cans,
batteries and canned foods.
	Beaumont Mayor Evelyn Moore appealed to citizens to evacuate the
city.
	Already, bumper-to-bumper traffic was bogging down on Highway 96
going north. In other places, traffic was moving only at about 10 miles
an hour. Slowup was also occurring on Interstate 10 West to Houston.
	DPS trooper Jimmy Kirksey urged motorists to have patience.
	``I'm sure it's frustrating to sit there and wait, move a little bit,
and stop again,'' he said.
	Kirksey urged motorists just stay calm and maybe cut off their car
air conditioners to avoid overheating their engines.
	One motorist said it took an hour and a half to get from Port Arthur
to Beaumont.
Xref: sparky biz.clarinet.sample:2276 clari.news.disaster:130 clari.biz.finance.services:14 clari.biz.top:22