Posted on 09/05/2005 7:39:59 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
Tired, hungry evacuees set down in city Emergency personnel get to work
BY JAMES GALLAGHER AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Some arrived dragging suitcases behind them. Others didn't have a shirt to wear.
Most looked tired, but all were likely glad to be standing on dry ground and not far from warm food and a bed.
Nearly a week after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, about 400 New Orleans, La., evacuees touched down Sunday in Lubbock.
Three jetliners carried the bedraggled passengers from Louis Armstrong Airport to Lubbock, and more planeloads are expected.
"They're just relieved," said local American Red Cross Chairman Greg Bruce. "They were just excited to be somewhere where they're going to get some rest, some food, some clean clothes."
One boy dragged a stuffed bear as he crossed the tarmac at the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport.
Another man was carried off the plane by emergency personnel and placed in a wheelchair.
Some smiled as they deplaned, but most just looked worn.
One woman carried a garbage bag tossed over her right shoulder, her left arm wrapped around her son.
One little girl held a police officer's hand as she made her way from the plane to a bus that would take her and her fellow evacuees to the Reese Technology Center, where they will likely stay for several days or weeks.
In the wake of Katrina, about 90,000 New Orleans residents, about one-fifth of the city's total population, have been sent to shelters across Texas. About 1,000 are expected in Lubbock.
Many of the evacuees had never been on a plane and didn't know where they were when they landed.
Mayor Marc McDougal said planes were taking off from New Orleans without knowing their destination until they were in the air.
The first plane arrived with only 30 minutes notice, while a plane scheduled to land at 2:30 p.m. never made it. Two of the three planes arrived unscheduled.
"In New Orleans, there is very little, if any, communications," McDougal said. "Airplanes land, they load up, take off and then radio back to find out where they are going."
The mayor said he learned the planes were coming when air traffic controllers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport called to let him know.
All three planes that landed in Lubbock refueled and took off again with little delay. They are needed to fly more people out of flooded New Orleans.
Lubbock began making arrangements Thursday to handle up to 250 evacuees, but that number swelled to 1,000 on Friday.
About 600 will be housed in a dormitory and an air-conditioned hangar at Reese, while Lubbock Municipal Coliseum is ready to house another 400 if needed.
Most evacuees will be sleeping on cots or air mattresses, but those at Reese have access to a cafeteria, theater and gymnasium.
Councilwoman Phyllis Jones, who rode from the airport to Reese on one of the buses, said one man told her he had been standing in water for the past seven days.
"'I just need a place I can lay my head,' he said. ... You could just see the relief on their faces." Jones said.
Councilwoman Linda DeLeon said one boy gave bystanders a "thumbs up" sign as he rode by on the bus.
During an emergency City Council meeting Sunday afternoon, council members praised the work of area emergency personnel, who quickly checked passengers' medical status before sending them on to Reese.
"You just can't help but be proud of the first responders," Councilman Gary Boren said.
Ambulances from Lubbock, Levelland, Slaton, Abernathy, Lorenzo and other areas lined the tarmac ready to whisk urgent-care patients to University Medical Center or Covenant Hospital. Three patients had been admitted as of Sunday night, officials said.
Within about 45 minutes of each landing, evacuees were loaded on buses and on their way to Reese.
Police Chief Claude Jones said the pilot of the third plane told him Lubbock's operation was the most efficient and thorough of any he had seen while ferrying evacuees.
Once at Reese, the displaced New Orleans residents were checked in, sent through a medical check and given food. Police officers also performed background checks to assure no sex offenders or wanted felons were included to assure the safety of all evacuees.
Garrett Nelson, who is overseeing operations at Reese, said he is hoping to make the people feel at home and integrate them into the community as soon as possible. This includes enrolling children in schools, finding adults jobs and putting them in permanent homes.
McDougal said the city will use federal Housing and Urban Development funds to find permanent homes for the evacuees hopefully within a few days.
The city is setting up a job fair at Reese on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Local school districts will be enrolling children in schools sometime this week.
One unnamed evacuee at Reese who said he was in the eighth grade said he can't wait to enroll in school.
"I hope they have a basketball team," he said, with a smile on his face.
To comment on this story:
james.gallagher@lubbockonline.com 766-8753
brian.williams@lubbockonline.com 766-8717
Good gawd! 20% of the total population is in Texas and no telling how many more in other areas. Did hardly anyone heed the warning to get out?
They'd have ended up in Texas, whether they did it before or after the storm. That's what "get out" means.
I went to Law School in Lubbock. Not a bad town, but boring. Once you have seen the Buddy Holly Statue and Prarie Dog Town, you have seen it all. Happiness is Lubbock Texas in your rearview mirror, as these folks will learn
I think the droves of young couples with kids who are moving back here would disagree. They're tired of having to make an hour commute each way and not being able to catch kids' soccer games, etc., as a result. Probably a pretty boring place if you're single, etc., but there are LOTS of young families and retirees moving back because it's a great place to raise a family and retire.
We've got "new" and "gently used" clothing to donate (including starched, laundered men's white dress shirts and women's pantsuits suitable for job interviews, etc.). I heard that all clothing should go to Posey Elementary.
I was born on the Texas/New Mexico border. First place I ever went in my life was Lubbock, Texas. I guess that you would have to be a native to love the dry heat, wind and great people.
We were downstate all weekend on a mini-vacation, and it was around 80% humidity and 100 degrees with no breeze. Man, was I missing that Lubbock wind (which is actually lower on an annual average than the wind in Dallas).
You are right. Around here, we geezers agree that "Boring is good".
Lots of young people are thrilled to leave our rural area because "nothing happens here". Ten years later, they are back with their young families. We call them *rubber bands*.
I have lived in West Tennessee for a long time, and I am still trying to get used to the humidity that they told me everyone get used to. HA HA
Yes. There are far worse places to be than Lubbock, TX...:-)
Does anyone know why they haven't talked about housing these people in closed military bases?? There are thousands of barricks and military housing complexes that could be reopened and used. They could create whole cities on these bases. At the rate they closed bases all over the country, there has to be hundreds of thousands of houses out there.
"Reese Technology Center" is a closed military base.
Reese Technology Center was Reese AFB until 1997 when it was closed, so that's happening already.
One man's boring is another man's peaceful, and these folks could do with some of that right now. It probably won't be jazz, but relatives in Lubbock said they were arranging for some local musicians to entertain the evacuees, and they'll be invited to Tech's home opener Saturday if they want to see some football.
The beauty of West Texas (aside from low humidity, starry nights, spectacular sunsets and affordable living) is its people.
BTW, anybody hear how many of its hotel rooms Las Vegas is offering?
(Thanks for posting this, hispanarepublicana!)
I told Mr. HR earlier that I just wish it was a little less humid than it is here today, but on second thought, maybe this will make for an easier transition. No need for them to all have to spend all day putting on moisturizer on their first day.
sw
WOW...just looked it up...61% is humid, 'specially there!
Musta brought the humidity with them ;)
Weird that Lubbock's got 20% more RH than Houston today, and Marfa, in the arid Big Bend has 78%.
Anyway, they should feel right at home with that. When it hits the teens (temp and RH) they'll know they're a long way from the Gulf Coast.
Must be a rain storm. Wait I forget it hardly ever rains in West Texas.
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