PORT ARTHUR, Texas — One by one, plucked from the rising floodwaters and shuttled into the cabin of a Nebraska National Guard helicopter, they asked the same question.
Where are we going?
They were desperate for news, desperate for a safe place to shelter, desperate for some idea of what comes next now that their lives had been upturned by a torrent of floodwaters.
At an evacuee center at the Port Arthur Early College High School Wednesday, they sought answers, relatives, a place to charge a phone or a ride to dry ground.
A woman was trying to locate her mother. A couple worried about the three pit bulls they had left behind when they were airlifted out. They had thrown open the doors to their house and dumped dog food on the floor and prayed they’d survive.
Regina Cornell was trying to make her way to her sister-in-law’s house, about 10 minutes away. After that, she has no idea what the coming days and weeks will bring.
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Her daughters, Ava, 6, and Aveonna, 4, clutched their baby dolls. Cornell made it out with a bag of clothes and a few toys to entertain the girls. Before leaving her house, she placed some family photos high up, hoping they’d stay untouched by the water creeping in.
“I prayed the water wouldn’t get high in my house, but at least I have my children,” she said.
They were among the dozens rescued Wednesday by a pair of Black Hawk helicopters manned by members of the Nebraska National Guard deployed to aid Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
As Staff Sgt. Ben Mattox lifted Ava onto a seat inside the helicopter, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Although Harvey had weakened by late Wednesday, catastrophic and potentially deadly flooding will continue around Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and southwest Louisiana for the rest of the week. Harvey’s official death toll stood at 23, although officials expect the number of fatalities will climb sharply in coming days as bodies of flood victims are found.
Port Arthur found itself increasingly isolated as floodwaters swamped most major roads out of the city and spilled into a storm shelter with about 100 people inside. The city is also home to the nation’s biggest oil refinery, which has been closed by the flooding.
The scene in Port Arthur on Wednesday was the most dire the Nebraska contingent had encountered.
Storm victims climbed aboard helicopters from apartment complexes and homes swamped with water and from railroad tracks that remained the sole dry stretch of land in a sea of murky brown water.
Some were barefoot, clutching canes or backpacks filled with medicine or children’s sippy cups.
One Guard helicopter picked up an estimated 150 people. The other rescued 87 people — 63 adults and 24 children — as well as 17 dogs and two cats. Many expressed gratitude to the Nebraska Guard.
At least 37 members of the Nebraska National Guard are on the ground in Texas from units based in Lincoln and Grand Island.
“It’s what I expected, just chaos, and we’ll keep pulling people out until it’s under control,” said 1st Sgt. Ron Schroeder, the senior enlisted soldier on the Guard’s Texas deployment. “This is what I trained my whole life for.”
Bryce Ceaser, 19, left with his daughter, and just the clothes on his back, his phone and a charger.
“When the helicopters dropped, they said three more feet of rain was coming,” he said. “I was going to stay until I heard that.”
World-Herald staff writer Chris Machian contributed to this report, which also includes material from the Associated Press.
