Gov. Perry visits East Texas
Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:12 AM CDT
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| Texas Gov. Rick Perry, center, talks with members of the Texas National Guard during his tour of the Harvey Convention Center, one of several shelters set up by the city for evacuees from Hurricane Gustav, Wednesday, in Tyler. AP Photo/The Tyler Morning Telegraph, Jaime R. Carrero |
AUSTIN (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry Wednesday visited Hurricane Gustav evacuees in Tyler as they prepared to return to their homes along the Southeast Texas coast. "While we are thankful that Texas was spared from a direct hit, I am proud of Texas' efforts to protect residents and property from the threat of this hurricane," Gov Perry said. "As residents begin to return home, I want to thank them for their cooperation with state and local officials, and thank all of those who have assisted in preparing to keep Texans and our Louisiana neighbors out of harm's way."
Perry toured the shelter and boasted about the state's response to Gustav. He defended mandatory evacuations despite Texas not being directly hit, and described the state's disaster planning as something others try to emulate.
"Have we got it to perfect yet? No," Perry said. "But we're as prepared as any state in the nation. People look to Texas. When our neighbors ask us for help, we're there to do that."
Perry said the state had learned from 2005 hurricanes Rita and Katrina, when the evacuation and sheltering of thousands from Texans and Louisiana was mired with chaos and disorganization.
He said that in three hurricanes that have threatened Texas since, there has been no loss of life attributed directly to the storms.
"No one likes to be picked up and moved out of their homes," Perry said. But as someone in the operations center said, 'We'd would a whole lot rather be dealing with buses than body bags."
