WILLMAR -- A month ago, Stacey Nobile was volunteering -- packing up clothes and donations for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Tuesday, she was accepting clothes and donations, as a victim of Hurricane Rita.
"We thought this was never going to happen," she said.
In her 11 years in Port Arthur, Texas, she's evacuated every other year and come back home to no damage. Today, Nobile's house is gone.
The preschool where she works was trampled by a large tree.
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And her city will likely be closed up to eight weeks.
She's found comfort, charity and a temporary residence almost 1,500 miles to the north, at her sister's home in Willmar.
Tuesday, surrounded by her three children, Lane, 10, Maddy, 8, and Easton, 3, her mother, her sister and nephew, Nobile seemed upbeat, though a little tired.
Nobile and her children have lived in Port Arthur with her twin sister, Tracey Moyer, her sister's husband and their two children for the last few months. Last Wednesday, her sister's husband, a policeman in Port Arthur, called home to say that the city would be under a mandatory evacuation within the next 24 hours. He told them to pack up, grab the children and leave within a half hour.
Nobile, her sister, their children and one of their dogs packed into a car and headed north. They beat the traffic. But as they drove, they learned that the eye of the hurricane was headed directly toward Port Arthur. Moyer's husband told them they'd better keep heading north to Minnesota. They arrived Friday night.
Moyer and her two children continued north to her father's near Bemidji.
Since Rita, Nobile learned the ceilings in her home caved in with the exception of the master bedroom and the garage. The only bright spot was that the two dogs, six cats and two hamsters left behind somehow made it through the storm alive and are staying at a relative's home in Port Arthur.
Nobile got her family's vital records, but most everything else was lost. She said that her bank is inoperative and her insurance company, already swamped with Hurricane Katrina, can't respond to her claims yet.
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In the meantime, they've decided to settle in. Tuesday, Nobile took Lane and Maddy to sign up for school. The two will start at Roosevelt and Lincoln schools, respectively, on Thursday.
The Willmar community, Nobile says, has been generous.
Members of Vinje Lutheran Church, where Gail Eide is a member, and Heidee Eide's coworkers at Infinia Health care have offered clothing, gift cards and food donations to the family. Someone brought over school supplies Tuesday, and the district will give the children free lunch.
Nobile said she's been grateful for the community support.
Nobile's not sure how long she'll be here. She wants to go back to inspect he damages and get the family pets, but she's not sure if she's ready to establish a home in Port Arthur again.
"I'm done with hurricanes," she said. She said she's thinking of staying in Minnesota.
"I think I'm still on auto pilot," she said. "It's hard to think that everyone we know has lost something, if not everything. But I'm not sure it will hit me until I see it."
Donations for Nobile and Moyer can be made through Vinje Lutheran Church at 235-1441 or by writing Nobile at govikings@msn.com .
