A Long Walk Through A Storm

Tim Loh: BRIDGEPORT — Slumped on a cot at Bassick High School Sunday evening, Maurice Ballestas offered living proof that emergency shelters have open-door policies.

His round-trip bus ticket from Hartford to New York, half used, laid across his backpack. His "Streetwise Southern New England Map," bought the night before in Stamford, was folded on a blanket. His clothes, 12 hours after he'd stumbled into the shelter, were soaked. His feet ached.

"It was the longest I ever walked," said the 34-year-old, recalling his 20-mile odyssey from Stamford to Bridgeport that took place as Hurricane Irene closed in on and then buffeted the region. "I've pretty much slept all of today."

On Saturday morning, Ballestas was hoping to spend a day with an old friend. He took a Greyhound bus to New York, arriving at the Port Authority Terminal about 11:30 a.m. He learned that outgoing travel was closing at noon.