Heather Theobideaux, Happy Camper 

Hurricane Rita's Six-Month Anniversary - 'Doing a 180: From Disaster to Recovery' One in a Series

Release Date: March 23, 2006
Release Number: 1606-163

» More Information on Texas Hurricane Rita

AUSTIN, Texas -- "FEMA has done everything they said they would."

That is Heather Theobideaux, a resident of Orange , Texas , and a victim of Hurricane Rita. Her mobile home was destroyed by a tree that fell directly on top of it, crushing her son Hayden's bedroom.

"My husband, son and I had just been there three months when Rita hit," Theobideaux said. "We had been renting a mobile home on my husband's grandfather's property just down the street, and we had just bought our own and put it on our own lot. Now, after three months, we are back in the mobile home we had been renting. But our car is OK."

It took some patience to get their benefits. Their applications were denied because the FEMA official who called could not reach them on the phone. That took them off the list, so they had go back to the Orange Disaster Recovery Center .

Phyllis Hebert, a FEMA official hired from the local area, remembers first seeing Theobideaux, her husband and her son at the Orange DRC. Hebert, also a Hurricane Rita victim, had survived Rita with little damage, and saw an opportunity to get a job and help out.

While she was working in Orange , she began to help Theobideaux, who thought that her damage had been insufficiently documented. Hebert arranged a city inspection, which found substantial damage. When that certificate was issued, she asked the FEMA inspector to re-inspect and he did, qualifying them for $10,500 grant and a travel trailer to live in while they made their permanent housing plans.

"Phyllis had us write all the right letters and file all the right papers," Theobideaux said.

Theobideaux's Other Needs Assistance inspection allowed her the maximum amount of personal property damage, bringing her to the maximum award level of $26,200. Just over $13,000 in reimbursement for household goods and the cost of a generator came from the Other Needs Assistance program, which is paid 25 percent by the State of Texas and 75 percent by FEMA.

Theobideaux's husband, Keith, has been working to finish the demolition of their old mobile home, which is required by the city, but he planned to return to work soon.

"I have a baby girl on the way in June, and it looks like we will be ready," she said.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Tuesday, 30-May-2006 15:20:35