Posted on 09/15/2005 7:04:15 AM PDT by Ellesu
Some parish leaders in the area have concerns about FEMA's plans to temporarily house evacuees in trailers and mobile homes, and leaders in Livingston Parish voted not to allow them there.
Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer said his parish is already overcrowded and lacks the infrastructure to handle the additional influx. Some residents say they feel bad for the evacuees, but they agree with Grimmer's position.
"Well, I'm just worried about the schools," said Denham Springs resident Kathy Templet. "We're overcrowded now. My granddaughter goes to school out here, she's had to redistrict three times because of the overpopulation, and if we bring in more kids into school, .then what's going to happen? Not enough schools."
Even after the vote, leaders in Livingston Parish say they aren't sure whether FEMA has plans to set up temporary housing there.
Officials do not expect trailer cities in Livingston
By Mike Dowty
DENHAM SPRINGS - State Sen. Clo Fontenot says the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has identified three Livingston Parish sites as potential trailer cities, but has promised to respect requests by local officials not to locate such facilities here.
The sites are the Livingston Parish Fairgrounds, a former flea market grounds south of the I-12 Livingston exit and a shut down State Police Training facility on Buddy Ellis Road near Walker.
However, two of those sites are already in use for hurricane related activities, so the chances are slim they would be converted to trailer communities, Fontenot told the Greater Denham Springs Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.
"There are no trailer cities being considered in Livingston, but that can change tomorrow," Fontenot said. "Who knows?"
He said FEMA has assured U.S. Rep. Richard Baker that federal officials agree with the assessment of local officials that Livingston Parish is already stressed enough just from the additional families living with friends and relatives in the community.
The fairgrounds is now a staging area for relief operations, while the old flea market site is likely to be taken for the disposal of debris from Hurricane Katrina, Fontenot said. The old state police site could be converted to a barracks for displaced police officers and their families, but that now looks unlikely, Fontenot said.
Meanwhile, the number of new students in Livingston Parish schools displaced by the hurricane was nearing 1,200 Wednesday and will certainly surpass that, Superintendent of Schools Randy Pope said.
Pope and other parish superintendents were meeting yuesday and wednesday with state education officials and representatives of FEMA to discuss a long list of questions relating to the disruption of education caused by the turmoil of the hurricane.
Of greatest immediate concern is who will pay for the additional burdens placed on local schools by an influx of evacuees now living in other parishes. While many will eventually return to their homes, Pope said few know presently whether they even have homes left.
While money is an emergency, it is not a crisis as in the city of New Orleans, where Mayor Ray Nagin announced this week he does not have enough funds to meet payrolls for city employees.
"I think we have enough money set aside to make payroll for our people this year," Pope said of the Livingston Parish school system, "but that gives us nothing to buy textbooks and buy the extras we need."
http://www.livingstonparishnews.com
I wonder why we're buying 300 thousand trailers to house refugees when the news said there are 100 thousand of them?
Tin foil hat tightly in place - It has come to my attention that the local authorities DON'T WANT evacuees to EVER RETURN. What they want is a larger tax base.
Tin foil had off and neatly folded.
Sad, sad state of affairs in NO.
Louisiana made their bed with all of their corruption all of these years, they should have to lie in it, and not force everybody on other states, like Texas.
Since we in Texas have discovered that this bottom-of-the-barrel demographic from NO is comprised of many addicts, criminals, and other assorted bottom-feeders, one can understand why the folks in neighboring parishes in LA look upon the evacuation as "good riddance" and don't want them back.
You're not supposed to be noticing those little details.
Doncha know that when the FEMA trailer arrives, you never have to leave it? There are people in FL who have lived in their trailers for years, parked next to their damaged homes and this was from hurricanes of several years ago. That's your tax dollars at work housing freeloaders while you pay your mortgage every month.
That was the one's who did not evacuate before the storm. There were a lot of people who evacuated before the storm who are without housing now. The area affected was bigger than NO. How many people are displaced total for the storm? Remember there are other cities that were totally wiped out.
I doubt we'll ever have an accurate figure for either the numbers displaced or the number dead. The numbers and the demograpics reported are going to depend on what is politically expedient and for whom.
I know there's a bunch of people here and in every nook and cranny available. Going to Walmart is a crazy nightmare and the traffic is horrible now. In Lafayette there were 150 houses sold on the Friday after the flood. There are no apartments available either.
Catholic charities in our area are hosting job/housing fairs now. So many are in our schools here in Mo and I applaud the evacuees for being Americans and taking responsibility for their situations. Many are thankful and seeking temp employment and housing.
Many may realize a better life, others will go back to a good life eventually when the heat and damp abates.
Interesting to read the comments from TX. I had wondered about that myself.
For being so far away and a fairly rural community without immediate access to a lot of city conveniences and amenities, we have had a significant influx here as well. The majority seem to have been evacuees from before the storm, but many have families who joined them after. Most have nothing to return to.
There are a lot here in the Arkansas Ozarks as well. Most are making the best of the situation. I haven't heard any complaining, although you can certainly see the grief and shock in people's faces. Many have gotten jobs and plan to stay and we have a number of them in our schools, although the numbers are fluid at this point, so I'm not sure how many. I am glad that we have not seen the whining and the crime that seems to have afflicted some areas with larger numbers of evacuees.
The affected area was the heaviest populated area of the state.
Funny. They're worried about the burden on their school system. In Houston and surrounding communities, thousands of new students have suddenly shown up. Fort Bend Independent School District alone had 1500 unexpected enrollees.
Louisiana does not want to take care of their own.
After following the news, I am subtly reminded of what has recently happened in Zimbabwe. Mugabe removed all the poor people to another part of his country. Said he was getting rid of all the trash. I think the same principle is happening here. Only Katrina started the process. NO has successfully gotten rid of most of their poor. Placing them to other states. But looking on the lighter side, hopefully these evacuees will get out of this vicious cycle and start anew. Hopefully...
As long as they surplus them to the public afterwards. I need a nice brand new never used hunting trailer at a deal!
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