People whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Ike need to register with FEMA, but not being able to go home to assess that damage makes it hard to register.

Dennis Baker, Bell County emergency management coordinator, is aware of the problem and is awaiting word back from Federal Emergency Management Agency officials how to fix it.

“At this point the one resource that is available for help is to register through FEMA,” Baker said. “People can do it online at www.fema.gov or they can call at 1-800-621-FEMA (or 1-888-621-3362).”

Several of Bell County’s evacuees are from Brazoria County and word out of that area is that utility workers are trying to get power back on.

“Some of the cities have had up to 50 percent of power that has been restored,” Baker said. “The water system is coming back online - though there is a boil water notice in effect -and all of the cities have a curfew in effect.”

There is no timetable yet for the departure of evacuees, and though plans were to provide updates on restoration efforts on the Brazoria County Web site nothing was posted as of Sunday night.

“Until the power companies get the transmission lines repaired and power restored in the cities across the county there is no returning,” Baker said. “It’s going take some time to make sure all the services are restored and that the area is safe for return. We need to remember that it takes time to recover from a storm of this magnitude.”

Baker seemed to speak directly to evacuees when he said, “Please realize that city officials are doing everything that they can to restore some normality.”

That includes making the three hospitals in Brazoria County functional.

While local, state and federal government officials are concentrating on restoration and rebuilding efforts, volunteers here continue to accommodate the county’s guests.

“Our main focus right now is maintaining the shelters and feeding the people in the shelters,” said Bob Roberts, Red Cross branch manager for the Temple and Killeen area. “We have people in hotels and we’re currently trying to find them shelters because we know that they can’t stay in a hotel for too long. Someone looking for help from the Red Cross can call toll free 888-776-9226.”

Roberts described what the evacuees are going through during this time.

“You’ve just got to imagine yourself in the same situation,” he said. “If you’ve never been in that kind of situation it’s hard to fathom that most of these people don’t know the state of their homes or anything like that. The best thing that we can do is provide some stability and try to make the shelter like a home and try to treat evacuees with respect and courtesy to make them feel welcome in our community.”

The Temple Salvation Army is hard at work as well.

“Cooking, cooking and more cooking,” Capt. Martha Burchett said. “The Salvation Army during this disaster is responsible for feeding the shelters. That’s over 800 meals a day.

“As we work together with the police, the firemen and the city workers to feed people, I see what a blessing it is to work in this county. It’s been a blessing because we’re all in this together and we’re here to the end.”

Baker repeated the need for donations to the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.