Astrodome now in chaos with refugee crisis

[stargazer99]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Well...they were actually ordered to by FEMA. It doesn't exactly sound like they are being welcomed with open arms.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....1cccdfd6.html

Dallas seeks housing help, finds little

12:50 AM CDT on Saturday, September 3, 2005


By JENNIFER EMILY, DAVE LEVINTHAL and JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News

Even as hurricane evacuees are flooding into the Dallas area, officials are still desperately scrambling to find shelter for all of them.

The decision would be far easier, some officials said, if not for the fact that the shelters would have to be self-sufficient, with little or no help from the Salvation Army or Red Cross.

"If we do make a decision to open a shelter, we have to do so not expecting to receive any assistance from anyone else," Plano Fire Chief Bill Peterson said.

Denton city officials say they turned down a request by Dallas officials to help out because they don't have the resources or personnel to run such an emergency shelter, city spokesman John Cabrales said.

Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, CEO of the local Red Cross, said the agency does not have enough cots even for those arriving at Reunion Arena, the city's primary evacuee center.

"We are certainly overwhelmed," she said. "We have no resources. If a city wants to open a shelter, we will pay for the food. This is an unprecedented event for our city, our state, for our nation. The focus is on keeping them safe and getting a roof over their head."

She said the relief agency has requested more cots from the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA, which will eventually reimburse cities for the cost of the shelters, did not return several phone calls Friday.

As Dallas officials struggled to prepare for the onslaught of evacuees, Mayor Laura Miller blasted Gov. Rick Perry for visiting Dallas on Thursday but not informing her or City Manager Mary Suhm personally that 25,000 evacuees would soon be on their way.

The state has also failed to make good on its promise of cots and blankets for the city's shelters, Ms. Miller said.

"I'm amazed at the lack of help we're getting," the mayor said. "The state has done zero to help us, the governor has done zero to help us – besides coming here for a photo op."

Ms. Miller also panned other state and federal officials for a lack of communication with Dallas officials. The mayor said she learned from Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, not FEMA or the governor's office, that the federal agency ordered Dallas to accept 25,000 evacuees.

Mr. Perry contacted Ms. Keliher because she had participated in a state-sponsored emergency management program and appeared the logical point person for the Dallas area, said Robert Black, the governor's spokesman.

"If the governor neglected, as a courtesy, to call the mayor, he is sorry," Mr. Black said.

On Friday, city officials, in conjunction with their Dallas County counterparts, found themselves pleading with surrounding counties and municipalities for help. Convincing other municipalities to help has not proved easy, however. Dallas possesses only the power of persuasion over its neighbors.

Dallas officials say the city can house only 10,000 in Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center, the city's two primary shelters. Tarrant County agreed to take 4,000.


Collin considers helping

Collin County has asked its five largest cities to take in at least 2,000 evacuees. Plano, Frisco and Wylie were considering setting up shelters.

Denton County Judge Mary Horn said Friday that she had made arrangements with Dallas to move women and children into a couple of county jail barracks in Denton.

She said she requested women and children because the barracks have air conditioning, showers and restrooms but not a lot of privacy.

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said that emergency management officials have identified space in the county for 4,000 evacuees.

"That's the capacity we have identified, and I don't want to say we have the capacity to do more until I'm sure," he said. "We only have what we have. The last thing we want to do is put people where they are not comfortable or safe."

In Arlington, Mayor Robert Cluck estimated that his city could house 2,000 or more evacuees, but he said that's a "moving target." Several recreation centers are being converted to temporary housing, and a Salvation Army shelter can hold several hundred more.

The Eastern Star Home, a former fraternal retirement home, and a 200,000-square-foot building owned by Trammell Crow have been offered as shelters for as long as the buildings are needed.

"We know that 25,000 are coming to Dallas, but one city should not have to bear an undue burden," Dr. Cluck said. "We're prepared to take care of as many as we can."

Ms. Miller said North Texas must have a united response to hurricane relief.

"If all the cities would take people, we could handle this well," she said. "I find it astonishing that one would say no. It'd be admirable for these towns to help. We in Dallas have done our job. Everyone has to do their share."

In addition to Reunion Arena and the Convention Center, some evacuees in Dallas will be housed in the Decker Detention Center, county officials said. They said they will move inmates out of Decker, which the county used as a jail from the 1970s until mothballing it in 2002. It has been reopened several times since to handle overflow population from the main jail facilities.

By Friday evening, Dallas County officials offered this breakdown of how incoming evacuees would be distributed: 1,000 at Reunion, about 5,000 at the Convention Center, 2,000 at the Decker center, 4,000 in Tarrant County and 2,000 in Collin County. That left potentially 11,000 more slots to be handled by individual cities.

Ms. Keliher, who said the number of evacuees headed to the Dallas area might not top 20,000, said county commissioners were calling cities in their districts to ask for additional help.

Dallas officials said Friday that no single leader is coordinating preparations for the onslaught of evacuees.

"This is a unified command, as we say in the police department," said Ms. Suhm, Dallas city manager.


Security concerns

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said, "We're hoping for the best and preparing for the worst," about the security situation caused by thousands of beleaguered people flocking downtown. "We don't know what kinds of populations we'll be getting on the buses. New Orleans has historically been a violent city. But we will keep the residents of Dallas safe."

Fifty officers per shift will patrol Reunion, while 100 will patrol the Convention Center, Chief Kunkle said.

So far, 50 Texas State Guard members have supplemented Dallas' policing effort, although Chief Kunkle said he hopes more will arrive.

The Mesquite Fire Department provided a depot at Big Town Mall for buses carrying evacuees from New Orleans to Dallas. Officials expected 75 buses Friday evening with an average of 40 people on each bus. Tents and metal detectors were set up in the parking lot.

Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokesman Don Peritz said Friday evening that deputies as well as officers from Garland and Dallas are assisting Mesquite police in giving the evacuees a once-over.

"All evacuees from North Texas come here first," Sgt. Peritz said. "We're letting them have a bathroom break, running them through metal detectors and going through belongings."

He said they've found guns, but the most common contraband by far is liquor.

"Lots of liquor," Sgt. Peritz said. "Mostly beer and wine."

Some experts said the long-term implications of this wave of migration could alter the face of Dallas.

In recent American history there is no precedent for such an influx of people with so many needs, said Dr. Jeff Ferrell a sociology professor at Texas Christian University who has researched urban dynamics. Sociologists have studied other cities that have been wiped out by flooding, but none the size of New Orleans.

"I think it's going to force us to imagine ways of working together and pooling resources that we haven't been forced to do in the past."

Laura Miller is a major b*tch! I'm not surpised she's upset, but I'm sure the complaints she expressed to the press are only the half of it. She has turned her back on the homeless that are already living here, so I'm sure she's not thrilled about having to accept 25,000 of them in her city. She's made it illegal to panhandle here. The fire department apparently used to stand on the corner with bucket to collect money for the poor, but because of the panhandling law, that is now considered illegal. She is now trying to make it illegal to give money to panhandlers. I believe you can't even give food to the homeless, except for 1 explicit drop-off point. Also, from what I hear, the Dallas shelters are very poorly staffed and supplied. She doesn't want the homeless out on the street "bothering" people, yet she won't provide them with decent assistance.

And Gov Perry is about as worthless as W was as a governor.

- Mary