Beaumont evacuees face uncertainty returning home from Dallas

Some Beaumont residents who evacuated to Dallas during Hurricane Harvey have returned home.

Around 260 people loaded up on busses provided by the State of Texas, Sunday.

“There's mixed emotions this morning, there's a lot of people excited to be heading back, but obviously there's some fears about what they're heading home to and what's going to be there when they get there,” said American Red Cross worker, Krystal Smith.

While many residents traveled into the unknown, former Beaumont resident Bryan McCarty wasn’t one of them.

“There's nothing there for me, the water's polluted, it's just going back to another shelter. I don't want to go to another shelter, I want to stay here at this shelter, and try to make something out here,” he said.

McCarty says he has family in the Dallas area and a job interview lined up. He hopes to stay in Dallas for the foreseeable future.
 
“I plan on going back home eventually, maybe going home and staying, or going back later on, but I'm going to stay here for a while.”

Katrina Lemaster already has a new job in Dallas, “I start work Monday at Energy doing telecommunications.”

Lemaster says all her belongings were lost in the shuffle to get out of Beaumont, including her parents’ ashes. She says she is excited for a fresh start in Dallas.

“There's more opportunity out here, there's nothing in Beaumont. There’s no job opportunities, there's no water for one. So I don't know why they're going back.”

People from nearby Port Arthur are still not allowed to return home. At last check there were more than 3,000 Harvey evacuees at Dallas shelters.