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BOLIVAR PENINSULA - Many years from now, a small group of Hurricane Ike survivors will probably still be telling the story of how, on the night the storm flattened their island, they took sanctuary in a church - with a lion.
The full-grown lion was from a local zoo, and the owner was trying to drive to safety with the animal when he saw cars and trucks stranded in the rising floodwaters. He knew he and the lion were in trouble.
He headed for the church and was met by a group of residents who helped the lion wade inside, where they locked it in a sanctuary as the storm raged.
The water crept up to their waists, and wooden planks came floating through broken windows. But the lion was as calm as a kitten. When daylight came, everyone was still alive.
"They worked pretty well together, actually," said the lion's owner, Michael Ray Kujawa. "When you have to swim, the lion doesn't care about eating nobody."
Richard Jones, a shrimper, said he wasn't afraid of the beast.
"That little old fella is just as tame as a kitten," Jones said.
After the storm passed, the lion's caretakers fed it pork roast to keep it happy.
National Guardsmen dropping off food and water lined up yesterday in the choir loft to get a glimpse of the lion, jumping back when the lion snarled.
Jones said he hadn't stepped foot in a church in 40 years. And he wasn't ready to call his survival divine intervention.
"I drink beer and chase women, gamble, cuss," Jones said.
"You can't call that religion. I'm either too good, the devil won't have me, or I'm so bad the good Lord won't take me. That's a good toss-up."
- AP
