Today's relocation of about 4,000 evacuees from the Astrodome and Houston's other giant shelters to two Galveston-based cruise ships has been delayed because shelter residents don't want to go. Volunteers trying to fill buses bound for Kentucky also found few takers.
"Some of these people are still looking for their families," said Andrew Biar, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "They don't want to go. They feel safe here."
"The dome is home for them," said Lt. Joe Leonard of the U.S. Coast Guard and area commander for the Houston shelters. "For residents, another immediate relocation is simply too much, too soon."
Penn launches verbal attack on Bush
Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Sean Penn, who has been assisting rescue efforts in New Orleans, has launched a scathing attack on President Bush.
He said the US government did not "seem to be inclined to help". "We were pulling drowning people out of the water, it's the ultimate distress and human suffering ... dead bodies," he told GMTV.