Perhaps Houston is getting that "sinking feeling" that their guests may be staying longer than anticipated.
"We're quite comfortable in the Astrodome, thanks..."
"Hell, no, we won't go...."
Cruise ship plan doesn't float with evacuees
08:08 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005
By Carolyn Campbell / KHOU
Some evacuees in Houston say they would rather stay with thousands of others and wait to find their families than move to Galveston to live on cruise ships.
Organizers say the plan to move about 4,000 evacuees from the Reliant Park to cruise ships in Galveston is now on hold for the time being.
They say that the evacuees are saying that the move is "a little too much, too soon". They want to stay in one place until they are able to reconnect with their families.
"We've been out here and we've established a wonderful clinic here. We see patients and follow up. They know whom they have here, what they have here, and they have a sense of stability, certainty and trust," said Dr. Stuart Yudofsky, psychiatrist at Baylor College of Medicine, " Although I'm sure it would be really nice on the cruise ships, I think they're getting a sense now of what's really important and it's not necessarily what we would think. They think that by staying in the Astrodome that they might be able to get more information about loved ones from whom they haven't heard."
The plan was to move mainly the elderly and single parents with young children to the two ships, the Sensation and the Ecstasy. The ships would remain docked in Galveston for about six months.
A third ship for was also going to be docked in Mobile, Alabama.
Two cruise ships were leased for some Houston evacuees to live on in Galveston for possibly six months.
This would have been the first time that FEMA had put such a plan, to use "floating shelters" in an effort to make things better.
"There will be people from Reliant Park, evacuees from New Orleans in real beds, with separate bathrooms and a lot more activities to do," said a spokesperson.
It is not known how long the planned move will be delayed. The ships have already been leased.
Harris County Judge Robert Eckels has said that the Dome is not a home and officials would like to get evacuees into more permanent situations. |
