CRYSTAL BEACH, Texas—As if holing up in a church as Hurricane Ike was doing its worst to the Bolivar Peninsula wasn’t bad enough, Robert Reed had something else to contend with: a 500-pound African lion.
When Ike’s storm surge made the peninsula’s only main road impassable, Reed assisted in getting other residents onto helicopters so they could be airlifted to safety. Reed figured the Coast Guard would be returning to pick him up, but as the weather deteriorated, it became too dangerous for further rescue efforts.
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If they could keep their heads above water, then all they would have to worry about were the hours of pounding rain and winds – and getting cozy with the king of the jungle.
“This guy had his cat in a cage in the back of his truck and he wouldn’t leave it,” said Reed.
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The cryptic message to KHOU.com was as follows: “We are in Crystal Beach. Five men and one (inaudible) and an African lion at the Baptist church.”
http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080915_tj_ike_shelter_lion_crystal_beach.7a72aecc.html----------
KHOU was following this story all Friday night. I was listening when they played this message. You could hear them clearly say "African lion" but no one would comment on that. They just said "We don't understand all of this message, but it sounds like they are alright." Now we know.
Edited to add link.