PLYMOUTH – Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Retha Fielding, native of Texas, left for Houston not knowing that she’d be braving the wrath of Hurricane Rita.
Fielding left Tuesday, September 20, to be at a friend’s side in the hospital. She was originally coming home on Monday, September 26, and then she heard about Rita and changed her flight out to Friday, September 23.
Fielding’s flight ended up cancelled due to Rita.
This left Fielding stranded in Houston, in a hotel room without food. “I met a lady in the lobby and she and I went to find food,” Fielding commented. “We found one Chinese restaurant still open and they gave us huge portions. I bet the leftovers are still in my hotel room.”
Fielding was prepared to wait the storm out until she could get the next flight home. “It was surreal watching the hurricane on TV coming at us; it was like watching sports on TV, except you didn’t know where the hurricane would go next.”
The city was to be evacuated by 7 p.m. on Friday otherwise everyone would be stuck there. Fielding found herself in a jam until her brother pulled a few strings and got in contact with a friend who brought her to his home in Northern Houston.
Fielding got her flight out of Texas Sunday night and arrived in New Hampton at 2 a.m. Monday morning.
Along with the departure of Fielding was the departure of Hurricane Rita. Leaving a trail of destruction along the coast of Texas where 10% of America’s oil is produced.
With the seven refineries in Texas down and the four in Louisiana down due to Katrina, there are precautions being taken now to ensure no oil shortages.
According to a CNN broadcast posted Tuesday, September 27 on CNN.com, “Bush has ordered federal agencies to conserve fuel to offset possible shortages caused by the hurricanes.”
With the potential for shortages there is concern that gas prices may rise or stay where they are. “Oil companies said Monday that damage to their massive Texas refineries from Hurricane Rita appeared lighter than expected,” stated in an article posted September 27, on WMUR.com. “But analysts are still predicting that retail gasoline prices may remain near $3 a gallon for weeks or even months longer.”