| NEWS
| SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
Mind Games
Some ROTC sports day participants’
thoughts are with evacuating family members
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| The Shorthorn: Scott Russell |
| Nursing freshman Kristin Hotz
stands in formation for the ROTC sports day Thursday
afternoon at the Campus Recreation Fields Complex. Hotz
has been in constant contact with her mom who is evacuating
La Porte, just southeast of Houston. |
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By Alyssa
Fry
Contributor to The Shorthorn
Nursing freshman Kristin Hotz was one of about 100 ROTC cadets to
participate in the annual Sports Day event Thursday, but she had
something in the back of her mind.
Hurricane Rita had forced a mandatory evacuation of her hometown,
La Porte, Texas, from which her family was slowly leaving.
Before the three-hour event at the UTA Intramural Fields, Hotz was
on the phone with her mother, who told her traffic was at a standstill.
“She said they will go about two feet and then stop,”
Hotz said. “They have yet to hit 20 miles per hour.”
Before heading to Plano, where they plan to stay with other relatives,
Hotz called her mother with list of things she would like to have
from her home.
“I asked her to bring my diploma, my graduation cords, my
crown from winning military ball queen and boxes of pictures,”
she said. “It’s things that have sentimental value.”
Hotz said she heard there might not be a house for her family to
return to, so her mother knew to take the more sentimental family
belongings.
“If the house isn’t blown over by the winds, the flooding
will ruin it,” she said.
Hotz put on her game face for the event though, hoping for the best.
“I’m not distracted,” she said. “This is
fun, I like sports. I just feel better that they’re on their
way.”
Brandi Purswell, communication technology junior and ROTC cadet,
also had family evacuating the coast.
Her mother and father live in Huffman, Texas, which is about 30
miles north of La Porte. Before her family encountered the hectic
highways, they boarded up the house and packed their belongings
and pets, Purswell said.
“My family is in the [Future Farmers of America] so they just
got five baby pigs,” she said. “We also have a cat and
a dog.”
Purswell has an aunt in Grapevine, where her parents will stay until
they can return home.
Before her family left Huffman at 10 a.m. Thursday, they boarded
up their house with plywood to try to protect it from the storm.
They reached Conroe, north of Houston, by 1:30 p.m., usually a 30-minute
drive, Purswell said.
In Porter, just north of Houston, Purswell’s grandparents
are refusing to evacuate. They told Purswell the weather was fine,
and they have seen others who are choosing to stay.
“I told them to leave, but they’re old and stubborn,”
she said.
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