B2 — VICTORIA ADVOCATE, Saturday, August 26, 2017
com
2B
Texas governor declares state of disaster
► CONTINUED FROM I B
locations.
Fueled by the warm Gulf wa­
ters, Harvey jumped within hours
from a Category 2 to Category 4
hurricane Friday. As of 4 p.m.
CDT, the center was located 60
miles east-southeast of Corpus
Christi. The storm had winds of
125 mph and was moving to the
northwest at 10 mph.
The National Weather Service
warned that Harvey could linger
for days and even spin back off­
shore to regenerate in the Gulf
before heading toward Louisiana.
"The flooding will be cata­
strophic and life-threatening,”
weather service director Louis
Uccellini said in a statement.
“The economic impact will likely
be devastating.”
Locations may be uninhabit­
able for weeks or months, the
weather service in Corpus Christi
said.
It would be the strongest hur­
ricane to hit the U.S. in 12 years.
President Trump weighed in
on the storm, tweeting that he is
“closely monitoring” and “here to
assist as needed”
All seven Texas counties on the
coast from Corpus Christi to the
western end of Galveston Island
have ordered the mandatory
evacuations of tens of thousands
of residents from low-lying areas.
Most people heeded the warn­
ings to clear out of exposed or
low-lying areas. In Bloomington,
Texas, more than 60 residents
checked into a Red Cross shelter
in the city 78 miles north of Cor­
pus Christi and square in the path
of the hurricane.
Inside a high school basketball
stadium, residents on Friday lin­
gered on cots, stockpiled blankets
or checked on relatives via cell­
phones.
For Michelle Pettis, 24, the re­
treat to the shelter was an easy
decision: The trailer home in
which she lives with her 4-year-
old daughter, Aubrey Cardenas,
and 1-year-old son, Ethan Carde­
nas, wasn’t stable enough and her
mother was in Florida on vaca­
tion. She gathered pictures, im­
portant documents, blankets and
toys for the kids and moved into
the shelter Thursday night.
More so than strong winds, its
Harvey’s pounding rains that mo­
tivated her to move, she said.
"Flooding is what scares me
the most,” Pettis said. “We don’t
know how long it’s going to last or
what it’s going to do.”
Thomas Westgate, a Red Cross
supervisor at the shelter, said the
gym is equipped to house about
300 residents. Residents have
been trickling in all day, as they
realize the enormity and intensi­
ty of the storm, he said.
The Red Cross has designated
the storm and shelters a “Level
6,” one of the highest rankings it
has. “This could be a huge event,”
Westgate said.
Voluntary evacuations have
been urged for Corpus Christi
and for the Bolivar Peninsula,
where many homes were washed
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away by the storm surge of Hurri­
cane Ike in 2008. Corpus Christi
city councilman Greg Smith, who
represents Padre Island, said res­
idents who stay could be stranded
for days if the storm surge sur­
passes 10 feet.
State transportation officials
were considering when to turn all
evacuation routes from coastal
areas into one-way traffic arteries
headed inland.
John Barton, a former deputy
executive director of the Texas
Department of Transportation,
said timing and determining
where to use it are the key fac­
tors. Storms change paths, and if
contraflow starts too early, sup­
plies such as extra gasoline need­
ed to support impacted areas
can’t get in, he said.
Corpus Christi residents, sand­
bagged homes, pulled boats out of
the water, brought in last-minute
Challengers seeking fairer election districts
* CONTINUED FROM IB
districts and Democrats seven
out of eight in Maryland.
As the Supreme Court pre­
pares to hear a landmark
challenge to Wisconsin’s partisan
gerrymandering in October, op­
ponents of the proccss in other
states are waging legal and consti­
tutional battles that also could
reach the nation’s highest court.
"We’ve been subjugated into ir­
relevancy,” DeWolf says of the
conservative residents of western
Maryland, who elected an even
more conservative member of
Congress for 20 years until the
lines were redrawn after the 2010
Census. “All of a sudden, the rules
were changed.”
A three-judge panel declined in
a 2-1 decision Thursday to enter a
preliminary injunction declaring
the Maryland district unconstitu­
tional. The court also put further
proceedings on hold pending the
outcome of the Supreme Court
case. Lawyers for the challengers
said they would appeal the lower
court decision to the high court.
MAJORITY MAKES THE RULES
Every 10 years in most states, the
rules for drawing district lines for
Congress and state legislatures
arc changed by the party or par­
ties in power. If that power is
shared — or, in a few states in­
cluding California, if the process
is governed by a commission —
the lines might be drawn fairly.
GABf HttNANDEZ. CORPUS CHRISTI {TEXAS) CAU1R-T1MES
supplies or headed out of the
danger zone.
Corpus Christi Mayor Joe
McComb and county officials
stopped short of ordering a man­
datory evacuation for the city, but
they said residents who stay are
risking their lives.
Not everyone was headed for
higher ground. Kendra Holbert,
40, said she was staying put with
her mother, two sisters and two
sons — all in a Corpus Christi
apartment. The family had
stocked up on water, canned
goods, flashlights, batteries and
peanut butter and jelly. Holbert
was visiting a Stripes gas station
Friday morning for last-minute
gas and tacos. Like other resi­
dents, she said she was most wor­
ried about Harvey lingering in the
area for days.
“As long as we’re together,” she
said, “we’ll be all right.”
More often, one-party rule leads
to partisan advantage.
The Supreme Court has ruled
on multiple occasions that race
cannot be a major factor in the
way lines are drawn, but it has yet
to set a standard for how much
politics is too much.
'The Supreme Court hasn’t
really even defined what gerry­
mandering is,” says Michael Li, a
redistricting expert at the Bren­
nan Center for Justice at New
York University School of Law.
Two years ago, however, a nar­
row majority of justices ruled
that states can try to remove par­
tisan politics from the process by
creating commissions to take the
job away from legislators.
In those legislators’ hands,
software programs have perfect­
ed the art of line-drawing for par­
tisan advantage. Republicans, in
particular, seized on the process
in 2012 after gaining nearly 700
seats in legislatures two years
earlier, which gave them control
of both houses in 25 states.
Wisconsin is one of several
battleground states in which Re­
publicans and Democrats fought
to a virtual draw in last year’s
presidential election. But because
Republicans control the legisla­
ture, they designed election dis­
tricts in 2012 that haw given
them a nearly 2-to-l advantage in
the state Assembly ever since.
A federal district court ruled
2-1 last year that those districts
discriminated against Democrat­
VictoriaAdvocate.
VICTORIA ADVOCATE –
USA TODAY
SATURDAY. AUGUST 26.2017
President
says feds are
‘here to assist
as needed’
Herb Jackson
and Ledyard King
USA TODAY
The White House tried to
project an air of command
and control Friday as Presi­
dent Trump faced his first
major natural disaster with
Hurricane Harvey bearing
down on Texas.
“This is right up President
Trump’s alley,” homeland
security adviser Tom Boss-
ert said from the White
House briefing room.
irWhen we go in and brief
Oscar Aldana, left, and Abra­ him on the preparations for
ham Blanco prepare sandbags this hurricane, he is acutely
as Hurricane Harvey nears focused on making sure that
the Texas Coastal Bend area. ... the American people in
the storm's path have what
"The flooding they need. His questions
weren't about geopolitical
will be catastrophic issues.”
and life- Federal emergency re­
sponse teams were deployed
threatening. The to the Gulf Coast as the Cat­
economic impact egory 3 storm intensified,
threatening high winds and
will likely be severe flooding.
devastating.” Bossert told the up to 6.4
million people potentially in
National Weather Service director the storm’s path in Texas
Louis Uccellini
and Louisiana to heed the
warnings of local officials if
One of the toughest tasks after they are told to evacuate.
Hurricane Harvey trudges ashore “Now is not the time to
will fall to Jeff Saunders, director lose faith in your govern­
of Texas Task Force 1, one of 28 ment institutions,” Bossert
federal teams under FEMA’s Na­ said. “Those emergency
tional Urban Search and Rescue managers giving you advice
System and making recommenda­
In a typical hurricane that hits tions for you to evacuate are
a coast and keeps moving, Saun­ doing so with your best in­
ders would wait until winds died terests at heart.”
down to weak tropical storm He said Trump would
strength before dispatching his speak out about the storm
teams to help local law enforce­ when the time is appropri­
ment rescue residents off roof­ ate. The White House also
tops or from flood-ravaged said he may make a trip to
homes. Texas next week.
But since Harvey is forecast to Brock Long, the adminis­
stall over the region for several trator of the Federal Emer­
days, he may not have that luxury, gency Management Agency
Saunders said. since his confirmation in
Nine water squads are spread June, said FEMA has al­
out across the Texas coast, wait­ ready put incident manage­
ing on orders to go in. ment teams and emergency
CorcLogic, a company based in supplies in place in Texas.
Irvine, CaUf., that conducts global “We have search and res­
property analysis, estimates that cue teams in the state. And
almost 233,000 homes along the we’re ready to go to support
Texas coast are at risk due to our state partners,” he said.
Hurricane Harvey and that the Just before noon, Trump
potential reconstruction would said on Twitter that he had
total almost $40 billion. spoken with Abbott and Ed­
wards and was “here to as­
Contributing: Julie Garcia and Matt sist as needed.”
Woolbriftht, Corpus Christi Caller- Trump left Washington
Times; Gregory Korte, USA TODAY and
Melanie Evcrmlcy, USA TODAY; The on Friday afternoon for
Associated Press. Stanglin and Ricc Camp David in Maryland for
reported from McLcan, Va. the weekend.
ic voters “by impeding their abili­ stitutional amendment in 2015 to
ty to translate their votes into reduce gerrymandering of state
legislative seats.” It demanded legislative districts. Another one
that the legislature draw new dis­ focusing on the state’s 12-4 GOP
trict lines by this November, but tilt in Congress could reach the
the Supreme Court blocked that ballot next year. The state’s Dem­
requirement while it considers ocratic Party chairman has
the state’s appeal. Oral argument threatened a lawsuit if the Su­
in the case is set for Oct. 3. preme Court strikes down Wis­
“No matter who is doing the gerry­
mandering, it's bad for democracy.”
Mimi McKcnxic, legal director, The Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia
Fueling challengers’ hopes is consin’s districts.
the existence of several data- ► Michigan activists are pur­
driven models to measure elec­ suing a ballot initiative to create a
tion results against other factors. non-partisan redistricting com­
One of them — the “efficiency mission for both congressional
gap” — counts the number of and legislative districts. The for­
“wasted” votes for winning candi­ mer state Democratic chairman
dates in districts packed with the plans to sue over maps that have
opposition party’s voters, as well helped Republicans win nine of
as for losing candidates in dis­ 14 congressional seats.
tricts where opposition party vot­ The results of the artistic parti­
ers were scattered. sanship are plain to see. In 2012,
after the most recent Census, Re­
FAR-REACHING IMPACT publicans won 53% of the vote
Several other states could be af­ but 72% of the House seats in
fected by the outcome of the Wis­ states where they drew the lines.
consin case: Democrats won 56% of the vote
► Lawsuits are on hold in but 71% of the scats where they
North Carolina, where the Su­ controlled the process.
preme Court has struck down “No matter who is doing the
some congressional and state leg­ gerrymandering, it’s bad for de­
islative districts because of their mocracy,” says Mimi McKenzie,
reliance on racial demographics. legal director for The Public In­
The state’s congressional delega­ terest Law Center in Philadel­
tion includes 10 Republicans and phia. “It’s bad when Democrats
just three Democrats. do it, it’s bad when Republicans
► doit.”
Ohio voters approved a con­