Posted on 09/03/2005 8:49:17 PM PDT by SolidSupplySide
HOUSTON — With more than 220,000 hurricane refugees camped out in Texas and more coming, Gov. Rick Perry warned today that his enormous state was running out of room.
"Texas is committed to doing everything it can to help our neighbors from Louisiana, but we want to make certain that we can provide them with the medical care, food, shelter, safety, education and other services they need to start getting their lives back together," Perry said in a statement. "Local officials are beginning to notify us that they are quickly approaching capacity in the number of evacuees they believe they can assist."
About 18,500 survivors were housed in Houston's Astrodome and an adjacent meeting hall. More than 120,000 refugees were in 97 shelters in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and dozens of smaller cities across the vast state, Perry's office said, with another 100,000 in hotels and motels. Uncounted more were in churches or private homes.
Buses continued to arrive at the Astrodome, where many were redirected to other evacuation centers after people were processed and evaluated for medical conditions.
"We have notified FEMA and Louisiana officials that we are nearing capacity," said Robert Black, a spokesman for Perry.
More than 50 military and commercial flights deposited more than 7,000 evacuees at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. At Dallas' luxurious Wyndham Anatole hotel, a few guests looked forward to a quieter evening, compliments of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, after spending Friday night on the roof of New Orleans' Baptist Memorial Hospital ferrying patients to safety.
Hospital worker James Bell felt guilty.
"I could be down (at a shelter) and have a couple families here," he said.
Evacuees also were housed at Reunion Arena in Dallas. As a few people smoked cigarettes outside, a plane emerged overhead trailing a sign that read, "Shame on You George Bush."
What about Arkansas and Oklahoma? Both of those states are pretty close to Louisiana. Are any refugees being sent there? If so, I haven't seen a word about it.
Schools work on how they'll fit extra students in
Huckabee says evacuee count for Arkansas shouldn't exceed 100,000
These are in the local paper. But I know there are also churches, private camps and property owners who are offering shelter and provisions free of charge to the evacuees. There are a number of children already enrolled in our local schools and our office is fielding calls daily from those in need of help. There are food and clothing drives going on and a lot of people are volunteering their time and resources to help with the relief effort.
I've also read and heard that Alabama is taking a lot of evacuees from Mississippi.
Thanks for all this great info. It helps to get a grasp on the situation when you can see the local reports. I'm so far away from it, and the worst natural disasters I've experienced are some wicked windstorms (80+ MPH, trees falling on power lines, etc.), and some hefty earthquakes, plus Mt. St. BlowHerStack Helens, that it's really hard for me to imagine what these folks are going through.
We get floods here but NOTHING like what is going on in the Gulf Coast. Our rivers tend to be short and swift, coming down sharply from high mountains (excepting the Columbia, of course, which I can't recall ever flooding, although it may have) that the flood damage isn't comparable to the South's problems.
See sweetliberty's post, here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476860/posts?page=162#162
for info on your question.
They're here ILLEGALLY! What's wrong with booting them out? I guess if they broke into your house you'd have no objections. Can you tell me what the difference is? There's NONE!
Sorry-typo on my part. Thanks for catching it.
Gov. Rick PERRY of Texas is dead set against a state income tax and is a friend of gun owners. We don't need another mad Grandma like Anne Richards who was defeated in large measure by George Bush because she opposed concealed handguns (CHL).
Seeing as the article describes how Tenet Healthcare is putting its employees and support staff up at the Wyndham Anatole, it sounds like you got the same sweetheart deal when your employer sent you there.
I don't know about the other cities, but Houston does not have a suburb with a population in excess of the number of refugees it has accepted.
I'm not a huge Perry fan but I am proud of him and all the locals for stepping up the plate.
Having said that Texas is probably the closest with the facilities needed to accommodate large groups. Nothing like that in other geographically local states at least none that I can think of off hand.
Here in Austin we just don't have large public buildings so our ability to accommodate anything more than a relative handful just isn't possible. We're not hosting two evacuees because of the overflow at the primary centers but obviously that's just a drop in the bucket.
Get used to it. Nobody ever thought Houston could be the largest city in Texas until a hurricane destroyed Galveston in 1900. Common sense told those people a century ago to move 45 miles inland. I hope common sense prevails today in Louisiana, but there seems to be a lot of political pressure to rebuild New Orleans. Baton Rouge seems the logical place to rebuild.
Florida's taking some in. Not nearly as many as Texas has, but don't forget we have refugee problems of our own. Pensacola still has a number of homeless thanks to Ivan last year and Dennis this year, and ther's still a big "FEMA City" down in Charlotte County thanks to Charley wiping out Punta Gorda last year.
I'll have to disagree with the previous religious conservatives not liking it, I think many other stripes of conservatives have reservations as well.
While not an income tax his last tax plan was a backdoor income tax that was to reduce property taxes (a huge problem in Texas) but with no safeguards that property taxes would stay down (other than window dressing).
He was previously a conservative democrat, which isn't always a bad thing (see Phil Gramm), but his fiscal policies seem stuck in the democrat mode.
Plus he often comes off as what my wife calls a mimbo, that is a male bimbo.
I always thing of M-SP when I think of Mexicans. Houston doesn't come anywhere on the list. Perhaps one major difference is that Houston has a long track record of Americanizing Mexicans.
HOUSTON — With more than 220,000 hurricane refugees camped out in Texas and more coming, Gov. Rick Perry warned today that his enormous state was running out of room.
....
Time to shift relocation to Oklahoma, New Mexico, vacant military bases, and the like. Plenty of space there
I'll speak for myself since I live here. The statement that Texas is running out of room is perfectly understandable. Abandoned big-box stores are being turned into refugee centers. The Astrodome is full. The Convention Center is filling if not full. Churches are pitching in at 150% capacity, something that can't be sustained.
Where are more refugees going to stay? We are simply running out of room.
Don't worry - the buses will now turn East to Georgia and Florida and possibly some New England states to test their generosity.
The empty military bases seem like an excellent place to relocate many refugees.
I just spoke to my brotrher who lives in England, and he said the word over there is that it's all Bush's fault in regards to the failure to evacuate all these people! I couldn't believe it! I told him the "whole" story and he agreed. Just thought I'd pass that on...... I can't believe the media!
Here is your "Rino" in his own words:
"Texans made a decision about marriage and if there's a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's a better place for them to live."
Gov Rick Perry
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