"Thousands Flee as Hurricane Churns Toward Texas"

When I read the title of this piece, “Thousands Flee as Hurricane Churns Toward Texas”, two words immediately flash in my mind. These two words are refugee and migrate. This leads me to further explore the article and see that it is indeed a piece about refugees and people migrating, and in some occasions not by choice. The article states that thousands were forced to flee the coastal areas of Texas on Wednesday, September tenth. They had to relocate or rather, migrate, to a location further inland. As the Hurricane redirected from Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico, the people feared of yet another tragedy. The Hurricane had already plundered through the Caribbean’s and was picking up strength along the way. The “Category Four” hurricane was expected to hit that Saturday. In Brazoria County, Galveston, city officials arranged transportation to move these refugees to a more safe location inland. They were forced to migrate (to move temporarily from one area to another), to San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. President Bush considered this to be an emergency and offered federal aid to state and local officials. The state officials issued a mandatory evacuation of 20,000+ people located on these coastal towns. At 8 p.m. the hurricane was only 700 miles east of Brownsville. They also believed that this hurricane could damage the sturdy structures of offshore oil refineries. So, they were forced to move workers from 400 of the 717 platforms that are located in the Gulf of Mexico. Some believed that after the reconstruction of these platforms from previous hurricanes, that they would end up free of damage. With many casualties in Haiti and few deaths in Cuba, who is said to respond quickly to these matters, Texas had no choice but to force these refugees inland for their own good. It is comforting to have a Government who responds so quickly to these matters to ensure American citizens’ safety.

Article By: Anahad O'Connor
NY Times(A21) September 11, 2008