Family members stay put, face Katrina and Rita
Peabody native Ross Baker has been high and dry like the rest of Kansas this past month, but members of his family have endured Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Baker's nephew, Paul Baker III, a longtime resident of New Orleans, La., has a home just a few blocks from Canal Street in the French Quarter.
Despite storm warnings and mandatory evacuation orders prior to Hurricane Katrina reaching land, he elected to stay in his home with three dogs and three cats.
He moved his car to the third floor of Tulane Hospital parking garage, put in a supply of food and water, moved his possessions to upper levels of his house, and settled in to ride out the storm.
Baker noted his nephew owns an older home, constructed of cypress wood. "He had about four feet of water in there, but it didn't hurt the house itself," he said.
After 15 days, Baker's nephew was rescued by members of an Oklahoma team of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents. They brought in enough cages to remove the animals.
"We weren't too concerned for his safety," said Baker. "He didn't have a cell phone, but a friend in New Orleans made it to his house to check on him and we got word he was OK."
The first two floors of automobiles at Tulane parking garage were looted, but Baker's nephew's car on the third floor was not and when he was able to get gas he drove to his father's home in Pensacola, Fla.
The man suffered mild infections on his legs from the water, but otherwise is in good health. He has since returned to Louisiana and is staying in Baton Rouge.
During the past week as Hurricane Rita sent Texas and Louisiana residents scurrying for dry ground, Baker again kept his eye on newscasts at his home on north Walnut Street, wondering how it would effect his son Steve.
"Steve and his family live in Houston," Baker said. "They were debating whether or not to leave."
Steve Baker, a 1970 graduate of Peabody High School, eventually decided to stay in Houston, but sent his family to Austin to join other family members.
They have since returned to Houston.
