Latest News from KFDM

Beaumont Feeling Some Effects From Hurricane Rita
Reported by Scott Lawrence

September 23, 2005 - 11:32PM

Strong winds from Hurricane Rita are causing only minor problems in downtown Beaumont, at least according to an early survey of damage by KFDM News crews staying at the Emergency Operations Command center during the storm.
The eye of the hurricane was just south of the coastline off Cameron, Louisiana when winds Greg Bostwick estimated at about 60-70 miles an hour blew dozens of bricks off the roof of a building near the Crockett Street Entertainment District shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.
A transformer fell to the ground and a power pole leaned precariously across the street from Edison Plaza.
There were no signs of any wide scale power outages in the downtown area, but stronger winds were blowing in Port Arthur and it will be morning before emergency workers can make more comprehensive damage assessments.
KFDM Chief Meteorologist Greg Bostwick, news anchors Dan Gresham and Bill Leger, reporter Sally MacDonald, and Executive Producer Scott Lawrence are staying at the Emergency Operations Command center as Hurricane Rita moves ashore. They are filing stories for the KFDM webpage on one of several computers used by Beaumont police, firefighters and emergency workers to monitor the storm.
KFDM will resume full local programming as soon as possible once we are able to return to the television station.
Our news crews are taping several stories about the hurricane.
In the meantime, we are airing coverage of the hurricane from CBS affiliate KHOU TV in Houston.