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Katrina refugees will go to Houston's Astrodome
HOUSTON – At least 25,000 of Hurricane Katrina's refugees, a majority of them at the New Orleans Superdome, will travel in a bus convoy to Houston and will be sheltered at the Astrodome, which hasn't been used for professional sporting events in years.
Evacuees with special problems already have been evacuated to hospitals in other Louisiana cities, but the 23,000 people now confined to the stuffy, smelly Superdome, as well as some other refugees will go to Houston, about 350 miles away.
The marathon bus convoy should take two days, officials said.
"Our view is the move to the Astrodome is temporary," said William Lokey, chief coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We're buying time until we can figure something out."
Ann Williamson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services who is working on the evacuation plans, said, "The remarkable offer from Texas did not have an end date."
FEMA will provide 475 buses for the transfer, and the Astrodome's schedule has been cleared through December for housing evacuees, said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
The situation inside the dank and sweltering Superdome was becoming desperate: The water was rising, the air conditioning was out, toilets were broken, and tempers were rising.
Word of the move - a logistical nightmare at best - had not reached the Superdome when The Associated Press told administrators about it.
The dome is still surrounded by flooded streets, and getting buses to the ramps will be difficult, if not impossible. The floodwaters are threatening the generators which are providing electricity for the remaining lighting. There has been no air conditioning and only limited lights since city power went out during the hurricane arrived Monday.
National Guardsmen sandbagged a small area around the generator, but the underground fuel tank was covered with water so it could not be refilled until National Guard mechanics and engineers devised a way to bypass the fuel tank and run fuel directly from a truck
"We were down to an hour-and-a-half of fuel." Thornton said.
The generator is now being monitored around the clock. Wednesday morning, it was only 11 1/2 inches above the level of the flood waters.
Power and air-conditioning would be no problem in the Astrodome, although there would be few comforts of home in the stadium seating.
"We want to accommodate those people as quickly as possible for the simple reason they have been through a horrible ordeal," said Rusty Cornelius, administrative coordinator for the Harris County (Texas) Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Cornelius said the refugees would be bused to Houston, but all would not necessarily be on the road at the same time. Specifics of the transport and housing for the refugees were still being worked out with Red Cross and state government officials, he said.
Texas also is looking at the possibility of using the Ford Center in Beaumont for some long-term housing for other evacuees from Louisiana who may be staying in hotels, motels and campgrounds.
"Obviously from Governor Perry's standpoint, Texas is going to lend a helping hand and take care of those who have been devastated," Walt said.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she wanted the Superdome - which had become a shelter of last resort - evacuated within two days, along with other gathering points for storm refugees.
The Astrodome helped put Houston on the map four decades ago. It still stands but is dwarfed by Reliant Stadium, the newly constructed home of the NFL's Houston Texans.
The Astrodome opened in 1965, 10 years before the Superdome in New Orleans.
http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/katrina/stories/083105ccwcKatrinaAstrodomerefuge.101134c3.html
The marathon bus convoy should take two days, officials said.
"Our view is the move to the Astrodome is temporary," said William Lokey, chief coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We're buying time until we can figure something out."
Ann Williamson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services who is working on the evacuation plans, said, "The remarkable offer from Texas did not have an end date."
FEMA will provide 475 buses for the transfer, and the Astrodome's schedule has been cleared through December for housing evacuees, said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
The situation inside the dank and sweltering Superdome was becoming desperate: The water was rising, the air conditioning was out, toilets were broken, and tempers were rising.
Word of the move - a logistical nightmare at best - had not reached the Superdome when The Associated Press told administrators about it.
The dome is still surrounded by flooded streets, and getting buses to the ramps will be difficult, if not impossible. The floodwaters are threatening the generators which are providing electricity for the remaining lighting. There has been no air conditioning and only limited lights since city power went out during the hurricane arrived Monday.
National Guardsmen sandbagged a small area around the generator, but the underground fuel tank was covered with water so it could not be refilled until National Guard mechanics and engineers devised a way to bypass the fuel tank and run fuel directly from a truck
"We were down to an hour-and-a-half of fuel." Thornton said.
The generator is now being monitored around the clock. Wednesday morning, it was only 11 1/2 inches above the level of the flood waters.
Power and air-conditioning would be no problem in the Astrodome, although there would be few comforts of home in the stadium seating.
"We want to accommodate those people as quickly as possible for the simple reason they have been through a horrible ordeal," said Rusty Cornelius, administrative coordinator for the Harris County (Texas) Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Cornelius said the refugees would be bused to Houston, but all would not necessarily be on the road at the same time. Specifics of the transport and housing for the refugees were still being worked out with Red Cross and state government officials, he said.
Texas also is looking at the possibility of using the Ford Center in Beaumont for some long-term housing for other evacuees from Louisiana who may be staying in hotels, motels and campgrounds.
"Obviously from Governor Perry's standpoint, Texas is going to lend a helping hand and take care of those who have been devastated," Walt said.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she wanted the Superdome - which had become a shelter of last resort - evacuated within two days, along with other gathering points for storm refugees.
The Astrodome helped put Houston on the map four decades ago. It still stands but is dwarfed by Reliant Stadium, the newly constructed home of the NFL's Houston Texans.
The Astrodome opened in 1965, 10 years before the Superdome in New Orleans.
http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/katrina/stories/083105ccwcKatrinaAstrodomerefuge.101134c3.html
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Early Friday, after waiting on board and milling about the parking lot, the passengers were redirected to an adjacent exhibit hall, said Houston press secretary Patrick Trahan.
The change only added to the frustration of victims like Patricia Profit, who had relatives already inside the stadium.
"Before we left New Orleans, they said everybody will be in the Astrodome," said Profit as she stood outside one of the buses. "'Don't panic, don't worry, you'll still be with your family.' That's what they told us. Now we can't be with our family."
The daylong stream of buses was halted late Thursday, when the stadium population reached 11,325, less than half the 23,000 people that authorities had expected to put there.
"We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the people inside there," American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said shortly before midnight. She said people were "packed pretty tight" on the Astrodome floor.
It was not immediately clear how the shift would affect plans announced Thursday by Gov. Rick Perry for Texas to take nearly 75,000 storm refugees. Besides the Astrodome, 25,000 each were to be housed in Dallas at Reunion Arena and in San Antonio at a city-owned complex once home to an Air Force base.
"We will do all we can as a state and a people to help our neighbors to the east who have lost so much," Perry had said in declaring an emergency disaster that freed up money to aid storm victims.
Inside the Astrodome, doctors were having trouble keeping up with everyone needing treatment
"Many people might think there are enough people here, and there are not. We just need help," said Dr. Steven Glorsky, who had treated evacuees for heart attacks, open wounds and diabetes.
"We have a crisis in there."
A few people were arrested in the Astrodome, although Sheriff Tommy Thomas didn't have an exact count. He said some men were arrested for going into the women's showers. Others were arrested for fighting over cots.
People who entered the stadium were patted down for drugs and weapons, but authorities didn't immediately try to identify them, opting instead to let them immediately seek food or rest.
Houston Police Sgt. Nathan McDuell said officers also have confiscated 30 guns, most of which have been voluntarily surrendered.
Thirty-two Red Cross shelters were set up across Texas. Officials in Houston estimated as many as 55,000 people who fled the hurricane were staying in area hotels.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/02/national/a062944D13.DTL