[Seeking the truth]

Compare & contrast to the response of New Orleans!

[TexasCajun]

I guess that's 5000 new democrats for Austin.

Hope Austin doesn't ask them to work like the N.O. city council member did.

[weegee]

How did this story end? Houston still has many evacuees (in subsidized hotels, by the way). Some of the gangster element are even travelling back and forth between Houston and New Orleans so they are not in Houston by necessity anymore.

I assume that some have had difficulty finding work. Move them back to New Orleans and let them tie up hotel rooms in that city. Oh wait, New Orleans only welcomes tourists back.

Well tourists and the self-sufficient musicians (there actually have been articles critical of efforts to put New Orleans musicians to work in Houston because we are "denying" the city of NOLA "their" valuable talent).

[Tall_Texan]

Democrats and Republicans alike, I am *immensely* proud of how Texans responded to the mass evacuations from Louisiana. It's my primary reason for supporting Gov. Perry's re-election. He showed he could step up in a crisis and that is starkly contrasted to how you saw government handle the job in Louisiana and Washington DC.

Texans came together to take in the poorest of souls in their time of greatest need and did out best to help them adjust to their new realities.

Yes, of course, some of the evacuees turned out to be freeloaders or those with criminal pasts but if if meant saving 5 of those in order to save 5 whose only crime was being too poor to get out on their own, I'd say it was worth it.

I'm very proud to say we Texans stepped up when a lot of others just whined.

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

And have lived to regret it

[daybreakcoming]

Not crazy about liberal nest Austin but have to hand it to them - a good show of American can-do spirit. Yes, Houston and some other places have a problem now with the gangs, criminals, and ungrateful freeloaders which the msm concentrates on - but there were many people who made the best of a very bad situation and were grateful for a refuge.

[CenTex]

The type of response was not limited to Austin but to most, if not all, of Central Texas. We started receiving Katrina folks and then Rita evacuees.

I worked in the Bell County area (60 miles north of Austin on IH-35) in several capacities (amateur radio, Red Cross,EOC Volunteer and gofer)and saw the efforts first hand.

The faith based folks were in the middle of everything and donations were coming in from all directions (Big Bad Wal-Mart was one of the biggest donors).

The City of Killeen (think Fort Hood)was totally involved converting a vacant shopping center to a refuge for several hundred people with the facilities similar to those described in the Austin convention center.

The county and city officials were doing all they could to coordinator the needs and people. The smaller communities and counties were converting all available facilities to help support the effort, fifty here and a hundred there and it began to add up.

I was working at the local coordination location when eleven bus loads arrived and our facilities were full. these people had been shuffled all over East Texas, many double evacuees (first Katrina, then Rita.) A massive effort found food and cleaning supplies (the buses had been on the road for two days with no maintenance.)

Available space was found at a location south of Austin (Buda, I believe) and the buses were reloaded and given a sheriffs escort all the way to the facility 80 miles away.

There are thousands of other stories out there that will be told and retold. Was it worth it???

After things had settled down, I was in the checkout line at the local Lowe's and a lady in front of me had some items necessary to set up basic housekeeping. I asked her if she was an evacuee and how had she been treated.

She Replied that she was from from New Orleans and had been treated absolutely wonderful and that the people in the area had been truly concerned about her and her husband's, an Alzheimer's victim, welfare. I did not shed a tear but left the store with a smile and considered that payment in full for my two weeks work.