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Seems the evacuees are causing mayhem inside the Astrodome now.
Authorites are lumping all persons into undifferentiated areas of occupation, with single males and females intermixed with families.
They have torn down all the dividers seperating sleeping areas and changing areas and recreation areas.
It seems they are just picking up where they left off at the SuperDome
Stadium calls halt to taking refugees
By BILL MURPHY and LEIGH HOPPER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
HURRICANE KATRINA
NOAA
Hurricane Katrina swirls toward the Gulf Coast.
Officials closed the Reliant Astrodome to further New Orleans evacuees late Thursday, shortly before five more busloads arrived.
Although the passengers initially were told they would have to reboard the buses and go to Huntsville, officials relented and allowed at least one busload of 67 passengers to stay. The fate of the other four buses was still being considered late Thursday.
Houston Police Sgt. Nate McDuell said the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office ordered that no more evacuees be accepted.
"We're at capacity and buses are being diverted to other cities and other shelters," McDuell said.
Tired, distraught passengers got off the buses and shouted angrily as police officers told them they could not stay.
"We've got sick people in here and this is how you treat us!" one man shouted. "Welcome to Houston! I hope a hurricane comes to Houston!"
Passengers, some carrying babies, complained that they had made the long ride in unair-conditioned buses and were exhausted. One elderly man was placed in an ambulance and taken to a triage site.
"This is just one of those things," said Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen. "We're doing the best we can."
The Dome was closed as its population of refugees from New Orleans swelled to 11,375, said Andrew Biar, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said the decision was made "for the safety and comfort of the people who are now in the Astrodome."
Officials said chaotic conditions in New Orleans delayed transport of hurricane victims who have spent days in the Superdome there, with no electric power and few necessities.
Some of the first 2,000 evacuees who reached the Astrodome late Wednesday and early Thursday weren't from the Superdome, and county officials backtracked from their earlier announcement that only Superdome evacuees would be admitted.
Most of the new arrivals late Thursday were those who had boarded buses at or near the Superdome, said Liese Hutchinson, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which is handling some operations at the shelter under county supervision.
FEMA will reimburse the local expenses, officials said.
The Astrodome was not open to refugees who came to Houston before or shortly after Katrina made landfall.
Without such a policy, there would have been no space for evacuees fleeing the worsening conditions in New Orleans, said O'Brien-Molina.
Three hundred evacuees to be housed at the Dome were coming on two flights from Louisiana. Another 1,900 were to take an Amtrak train to Lafayette, La., and then board buses for Houston, said Rita Obey, spokeswoman for the county Public Health and Environmental Services Department.
But most made the whole trip in chartered and school buses. Late in the afternoon, tired, sad-looking riders filled four yellow West Baton Rouge Parish school buses that pulled up to the Dome.
Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said his department was watching for a few New Orleans municipal jail inmates who may have found their way into the Superdome evacuation. They were brought to the Superdome as conditions worsened at the city jail but could not be accounted for later.
Thomas said the inmates were only minor offenders.
The relief effort at the Dome remained a work in progress.
A 100,000-square-foot medical clinic set up in the Astroarena was nearly overwhelmed on its first day.
The clinic, which is seeking more volunteer doctors and nurses, saw 400 patients by
5 p.m. Nearly 50 people were sent to emergency rooms.
Aramark, the concessionaire at Reliant Park, is feeding evacuees from buffet tables on a concourse.
But not all was calm. One man was arrested after fighting over a cot. Two others were arrested after peeping into a women's shower. Two of the four locker rooms at the Dome are for women, two for men.
State and local education officials were making plans to hold classes for evacuee children at the Dome or bus them to schools, Eckels said.
Chronicle reporters Salatheia Bryant and Anne Marie Kilday contributed to this report.
A little bit more info:
MORE INFO: Red Cross volunteer named Price Hall inside Astrodome is saying there were not enough volunteers to take care of all the refugees who came in--he is blaming it all on that. He believes there are 5-7,000 people in there and 50 buses waiting to unload.
They served hot breakfast this morning, sandwiches during the day and there is still a lot of fruit, soda and water. But there will be no more food coming until tomorow. There was no more clothing available for the men, ran out of men's clothing very early. (My own comment: The Red Cross wouldn't let anybody donate clothing, for heaven's sake! Our own people were out there handing out their own clothes on the sidewalk to them!)
There is plenty more room, but not enough volunteers, he says. Volunteers were being turned away at the gate! This is mind-boggling. Cots were set up for seniors, families, single males, single females. More cots came, but it's not enough. The partitions were torn down immediately. (Note that I'm not sure who this guy is, because he is complaining about things that his own group, the Red Cross, was in charge of!)
News anchors are asking if there is civil unrest there--Hall says no, not anywhere near that. He doesn't know anything about the death(s) reported. There is a whole medical section and there are many doctors who have been working 24/7 with the refugees. He says 50% of the people coming in had some kind of medical problem. Now, Houston Police Dept is on phone--they are diverting the buses to other shelters. (Yikes, all of our shelters are already full and crowded to capacity!) (Newspeople mentioned Huntsville, possibly.) HPD person just said that and nothing else. Back to Hall, who is saying if nothing else, he's glad they did shut it down, just because the services are already taxed to the max and no one would be comfortable beyond this point.
More to come as it is available.
Authorites are lumping all persons into undifferentiated areas of occupation, with single males and females intermixed with families.
They have torn down all the dividers seperating sleeping areas and changing areas and recreation areas.
It seems they are just picking up where they left off at the SuperDome
Stadium calls halt to taking refugees
By BILL MURPHY and LEIGH HOPPER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
HURRICANE KATRINA
NOAA
Hurricane Katrina swirls toward the Gulf Coast.
Officials closed the Reliant Astrodome to further New Orleans evacuees late Thursday, shortly before five more busloads arrived.
Although the passengers initially were told they would have to reboard the buses and go to Huntsville, officials relented and allowed at least one busload of 67 passengers to stay. The fate of the other four buses was still being considered late Thursday.
Houston Police Sgt. Nate McDuell said the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office ordered that no more evacuees be accepted.
"We're at capacity and buses are being diverted to other cities and other shelters," McDuell said.
Tired, distraught passengers got off the buses and shouted angrily as police officers told them they could not stay.
"We've got sick people in here and this is how you treat us!" one man shouted. "Welcome to Houston! I hope a hurricane comes to Houston!"
Passengers, some carrying babies, complained that they had made the long ride in unair-conditioned buses and were exhausted. One elderly man was placed in an ambulance and taken to a triage site.
"This is just one of those things," said Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen. "We're doing the best we can."
The Dome was closed as its population of refugees from New Orleans swelled to 11,375, said Andrew Biar, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said the decision was made "for the safety and comfort of the people who are now in the Astrodome."
Officials said chaotic conditions in New Orleans delayed transport of hurricane victims who have spent days in the Superdome there, with no electric power and few necessities.
Some of the first 2,000 evacuees who reached the Astrodome late Wednesday and early Thursday weren't from the Superdome, and county officials backtracked from their earlier announcement that only Superdome evacuees would be admitted.
Most of the new arrivals late Thursday were those who had boarded buses at or near the Superdome, said Liese Hutchinson, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which is handling some operations at the shelter under county supervision.
FEMA will reimburse the local expenses, officials said.
The Astrodome was not open to refugees who came to Houston before or shortly after Katrina made landfall.
Without such a policy, there would have been no space for evacuees fleeing the worsening conditions in New Orleans, said O'Brien-Molina.
Three hundred evacuees to be housed at the Dome were coming on two flights from Louisiana. Another 1,900 were to take an Amtrak train to Lafayette, La., and then board buses for Houston, said Rita Obey, spokeswoman for the county Public Health and Environmental Services Department.
But most made the whole trip in chartered and school buses. Late in the afternoon, tired, sad-looking riders filled four yellow West Baton Rouge Parish school buses that pulled up to the Dome.
Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said his department was watching for a few New Orleans municipal jail inmates who may have found their way into the Superdome evacuation. They were brought to the Superdome as conditions worsened at the city jail but could not be accounted for later.
Thomas said the inmates were only minor offenders.
The relief effort at the Dome remained a work in progress.
A 100,000-square-foot medical clinic set up in the Astroarena was nearly overwhelmed on its first day.
The clinic, which is seeking more volunteer doctors and nurses, saw 400 patients by
5 p.m. Nearly 50 people were sent to emergency rooms.
Aramark, the concessionaire at Reliant Park, is feeding evacuees from buffet tables on a concourse.
But not all was calm. One man was arrested after fighting over a cot. Two others were arrested after peeping into a women's shower. Two of the four locker rooms at the Dome are for women, two for men.
State and local education officials were making plans to hold classes for evacuee children at the Dome or bus them to schools, Eckels said.
Chronicle reporters Salatheia Bryant and Anne Marie Kilday contributed to this report.
A little bit more info:
MORE INFO: Red Cross volunteer named Price Hall inside Astrodome is saying there were not enough volunteers to take care of all the refugees who came in--he is blaming it all on that. He believes there are 5-7,000 people in there and 50 buses waiting to unload.
They served hot breakfast this morning, sandwiches during the day and there is still a lot of fruit, soda and water. But there will be no more food coming until tomorow. There was no more clothing available for the men, ran out of men's clothing very early. (My own comment: The Red Cross wouldn't let anybody donate clothing, for heaven's sake! Our own people were out there handing out their own clothes on the sidewalk to them!)
There is plenty more room, but not enough volunteers, he says. Volunteers were being turned away at the gate! This is mind-boggling. Cots were set up for seniors, families, single males, single females. More cots came, but it's not enough. The partitions were torn down immediately. (Note that I'm not sure who this guy is, because he is complaining about things that his own group, the Red Cross, was in charge of!)
News anchors are asking if there is civil unrest there--Hall says no, not anywhere near that. He doesn't know anything about the death(s) reported. There is a whole medical section and there are many doctors who have been working 24/7 with the refugees. He says 50% of the people coming in had some kind of medical problem. Now, Houston Police Dept is on phone--they are diverting the buses to other shelters. (Yikes, all of our shelters are already full and crowded to capacity!) (Newspeople mentioned Huntsville, possibly.) HPD person just said that and nothing else. Back to Hall, who is saying if nothing else, he's glad they did shut it down, just because the services are already taxed to the max and no one would be comfortable beyond this point.
More to come as it is available.
