Posted on 09/12/2005 5:23:36 AM PDT by sweetliberty
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Escaping the confusion of Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast refugees found a surprise in Arkansas. The poor Southern state, often beset by its own natural disasters, had beds, meals and an emergency plan that helped it absorb a 2.5 percent jump in its population.
"They treat us absolutely fantastic," said Leon Johnson of New Orleans, staying at a camp in Little Rock. "They got a group of people and they opened their arms out and make us as welcome as possible. They're taking care of our needs."
Arkansas took in more than 60,000 refugees after Katrina arrived - only Texas took in more. Gov. Mike Huckabee is out preaching the Golden Rule and reminding Arkansans of help they receive after the almost-annual ice storms and tornadoes.
"I ask people, 'Have you been to New Orleans?'" Huckabee said. "These are people who drove your carriage down Canal Street. They carried your bags to your hotel room and picked up the dishes when you finished eating. By golly, we're going to be there to take care of them now."
During previous storms, Gulf Coast residents have packed southern Arkansas hotels for days at a time, but it was clear early on that this was a lot worse. When it appeared that Louisiana and Mississippi were going to need a lot of help, Huckabee met with cabinet members to lay out Arkansas' response.
"The migration of evacuees is not unlike the migration of ducks," Huckabee said. "People go as far as they have to go, but they try not to go too far from home. So naturally Arkansas became a safe haven."
Within a day of the storm coming ashore in Louisiana with 145 mph, Huckabee had a plan and a Web site to promote it: Operation: KARE (Katrina Assistance Relief Effort) at http://www.kare.arkansas.gov
Huckabee estimated that 50,000 came on their own, seeking motels or relatives. The influx slowed to a trickle before the broad evacuation of New Orleans brought 9,000 to a makeshift processing center at Fort Chaffee.
Texas initially took more than 100,000 refugees, many of them to Houston's Astrodome and other sites in southern Texas. States as far as away as Arizona, Utah and West Virginia accepted refugees, but no place took a larger percentage of its own population than Arkansas.
Some of Huckabee's reaction could be instinct. Huckabee is a Southern Baptist preacher and in nine years as Arkansas governor has quickly offered relief and provided a prayer as the state recovered from tornadoes and ice storms.
Some of Huckabee's reaction could be political. Huckabee is weighing a run for president in 2008. He shares a hometown with Bill Clinton - Hope - but said his reaching out to evacuees has nothing to do with a potential run for higher office.
"That's of no concern to me right now," Huckabee said as he visited the Operation: KARE call center a week ago.
Arkansas is on Louisiana's northern border and ties between the states are plentiful. They share an electric utility, their main college football teams are rivals and Census Bureau figures show many Arkansas natives now live in Louisiana, and vice versa.
When 1 million of Arkansas' 2.8 million residents lost power during a 2000 ice storm, Louisiana linemen came to help restore electricity.
In the Katrina response, Arkansas has fallen into three stages: immediate aid, intermediate relocation and long-term assistance, like jobs, schooling and housing. As the thousands arrived at Fort Chaffee, they were systematically processed and sent to a statewide network of smaller church camps.
Camp Aldersgate in Little Rock took in 60 refugees. Set in the woods, it is the calm after the storm.
"If you look back from where we came from and the ordeal we came through, this is a blessing," said John Cannon of New Orleans, as he pored over a newspaper on one of the camp benches. "The atmosphere that exists helps you to have some peace and contentment with yourself, especially as you reflect."
Many of the evacuees, accustomed to an urban lifestyle, were sent to rural areas. The Lawrence County town of Imboden has taken in more than 300 evacuees, nearly half its population.
"It's difficult because their culture is different," said Lawrence County Judge Alex Latham, the county's chief administrative officer. "For the most part everybody is coping."
Already one of the nation's poorest states, Arkansas legislative leaders and the governor have said it would be appropriate to spend part of the state's $123 million budget surplus to help storm victims.
Some Arkansans opened their spare bedrooms and vacation homes to refugees, while others volunteers are taking in pets that local Humane Society can't keep.
Hundreds of Arkansas National Guard soldiers, back from Iraq earlier this year, are now deployed in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Arkansas State Police sent troopers. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has sent workers to help and the state Game and Fish Commission has wildlife officers in affected areas.
Many evacuees are doing their share as well, finding jobs and volunteering themselves.
"Time and again people are saying, 'I'm staying here. This is home for me now,'" Huckabee said. "People at camps are saying `Put me to work.'"
The state has a job database set up for that. Operation KARE has programs to reunite families, help refugees obtain federal aid, find apartments and enroll their children into local school districts. State education officials have yet to tally the influx.
The evacuee processing form has a section for "services needed" and offers help for those with special needs, mental illnesses, pregnant women and those needing legal help. It seems the state is ready to fill any need the refugees may have. There's also a section for funeral assistance.
So many people came into Arkansas that other governors, from Iowa, Idaho and Oklahoma contacted Huckabee offering to take in refugees or send help. Federal defense authorities dubbed the Little Rock Air Force Base the nation's hub for foreign aid deliveries with planes already landing from China, Egypt, Great Britain, Israel, Italy and Russia.
Following Huckabee's lead, Arkansans are going the extra mile. Refugees staying at Camp Aldersgate were treated to a free outdoor showing of "Star Wars" last week at Little Rock's Riverfront Amphitheatre.
"I don't think any of us anticipated the level of devastation, the number of evacuees or the length of time we'd be looking at," Huckabee said. "Right now we're truly blessed to be able to extend friendship and warmth and hospitality to them."
Many people here have opened their homes to them. Wal-Mart is hiring any associate who has been displaced by Katrina, not just here but all over the U.S.A. This in addition to financial assistance.
On a sour note, five evacuees cars were broken into at the Convention Center the first night they were there, despite the almost constant police patrol. FWIW, the police department is across the street from the convention center! However, no break-ins have been reported since.
I thought Huckabee was a conservative? Didn't he play in a band for freerepublic at several functions? Who am I thinking of?
:-)
But he often acts like a democRAT.
Now Budge, you know that was just the Pine Bluff welcoming committee. < /sarcasm >
Huckabee is a "Republican" but he's no conservative.
"Huckabee is a "Republican" but he's no conservative."
Ok, sure Arkansas gov't isn't a model of efficiency after he's been in office nearly 10 years, but the Arkansas legislature is full of Bill Clinton disciples who have worked to thwart Huck. The state is no worse off that it was after Clinton. Huck is without question pro-life. He drives libs crazy because he was a Baptist minister, and I enjoy that.
That's his true calling in life. Not politics.
sw
One hell of a legacy, eh?
"The state is NO WORSE OFF that it was after Clinton"
What a load!
I've re-read the headlines about five times.
When was there a storm in Arkansas?
Storm in Arkansas?
Did I miss something? Was it a big storm, little storm, or political storm?
Or is the headline writer just very poor with english?
It's the AP. Need I say more?
It sounds like Huckabee is rising to the challenge the right way. Plus, this article is full of a forbidden word, is it not??? REFUGEES REFUGEES REFUGEES. There must be a lot of common sense there as well. Aaaahhh, how tremendously refreshing.
One can only hope that the REFUGEES see how life could be lived, now that they are out of NO.
yesterday our daughter said her co worker's wife rec'd a letter from her employer which stated evacuees will get preference for any positions opened within the company. She didn't know if this was policy with this one company or not. Bottom line, if I was more qualified for a job than an evacuee who applied, they would most likely get the job anyway.
Also all HUD housing now will be filled with evacuees. An example would be a senior citizens complex might now bump a senior who was on the waiting list and instead fill the apartment with an evacuee family.
I know these people need help but doing it this way just seems so wrong.
I agree with you for the most part. I know of one evacuee here who applied at Walmart and was told that they were giving there jobs to those who had been employed by Walmart in the evacuated areas. That I can understand. But not to provide jobs based on their status as evacuees. That is nothing more than another affirmative action type plan that doesn't take into account the person's qualifications for a position. I doubt this is widespread. I would hope not. As far as Section 8 housing, I don't know. I think it needs to be balanced. Even without the evacuees, the funding ALWAYS runs out before the needs are met. I expect there will be more funding to states that are taking in a lot of the evacuees, but Arkansas's state programs are already more heavily funded by the federal government than most other states. Could have something to do with the fact that a third of our population is already on some type of public assistance. Nearly another third work for the state. That explains a lot right there.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade but according to some people I work with, the security cameras at WM recorded so much shoplifting that the local store locked it's doors and searched some people before allowing them to leave back to their campgrounds.
Also, the local law has been called five times to the campground for domestic fights.
I hope these are just isolated incidents and not a pattern everywhere.
Well - I am glad to hear that my fellow Arkansans are stepping up to the plate. But Huckabee out yapping is a good sign that his next move will be a new tax or tax surcharge (like the one that was suppose to expire last year on income taxes, but didn't).
I am amazed - we were not affected physically by the hurricane, yet our own RINO governor and butt-slow officials were better prepaired than NO officials....
What a sad statement that is for NO and all of LA.
Unforunately, it appears that this is a pattern forming - posts from folks in several of the towns and cities in Texas taking in refugees also report major crime spikes like the ones you mentioned.
I hadn't thought about that....yep, more likely true than not...sheesh....you going to be a poll watcher this year?
I'm sure that will happen. There are, after all, criminals known to be in the mix and there is no reliable means of sorting them out as yet.
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