26 September 2005 – Consul General Marciano A. Paynor, Jr., of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, USA, reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo that “there are no reports of Filipinos or Filipino-American casualties from Hurricane Rita as most Filipinos south of Houston, Texas, were given mandatory orders by the Texas state authorities to evacuate to safer areas.”

“Many Filipinos joined the exodus to Dallas and other points north,“ Consul General Paynor said, adding that the Consulate was able to talk to Dr. Arsenio Martin, a Filipino community leader from Beaumont, Texas, who said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US military had everyone in the city evacuated.

Dr. Martin and his wife, a pediatrician, were the last to be evacuated as they were the only physicians left behind to help more than a thousand patients to be evacuated.  They are now in Shreveport, in neighboring Louisiana.

Dr. Martin told the Consulate that he and his wife will return to Beaumont when the situation permits to assist in medical operations in the city.

Consul General Paynor was also able to talk to Atty. Arlene Machetta, a Houston-based Filipino community leader, who reported to the Consulate that “Houston suffered slight damage from the hurricane,” adding that “the city was without electricity for some hours when the storm hit last Friday, 23 September 2005.  Power has since been restored in most parts of the city.”

Atty. Machetta also reported to Consul General Paynor that the city of Galveston, by the Gulf itself, sustained damage, although not in the same magnitude as that of New Orleans, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina.

Consul General Paynor said that the “Consulate sent Vice Consul Edward C. Yulo to Houston on Saturday, 24 September 2005, to lend assistance and support to the Filipino community in the area.”  Upon Dr. Martin’s request, the Consul General himself will be visiting Beaumont once the US authorities allow travel to the area.

Secretary Romulo instructed Consul General Paynor to “continue to monitor the situation in the areas hit by the Hurricane Rita, and to assist Filipinos who have been affected by the storm.”  Consul General Paynor assured the Secretary of the Consulate’s continued assistance for the Filipinos in the hurricane affected areas.

The US Census indicated that as of December 2004 there are 80,123 Filipino migrants in the State of Texas. END
 

 /bjg