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Pastimes : Hurricane and Severe Weather Tracking -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (3108)	9/2/2005 2:07:59 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 26015

Some Houstonians question welcome-mat effort chron.com Their reaction is understandable.

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (3108)	9/2/2005 2:14:10 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 26015

RE:"A picture of the inside of the dome confirms that fact. The floor is completely covered by cots. Why did no one know that the capacity was only 5K and not 24K? I am stunned at this development." The fire marshall closed it. San Antonio said they will take 25k. There are conflicting facts even in the same article......clearly, the governor is strong arming the cities and I suspect Bush is strong arming the governor: Texas to take in another 25,000 from Louisiana By JOHN W. GONZALEZ Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry's office announced today that San Antonio officials have agreed to take another 25,000 refugees at the request of Louisiana, but officials in the Alamo City said that's a statewide number and San Antonio would be taking some, not all, of the total. San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger said the first evacuees likely will be housed beginning late tonight in the Joe Freeman Coliseum, an infrequently used venue with air-conditioning. The site is the former home of the annual stock show, which now resides in the nearby SBC Center. Hardberger said the state may provide temporary air-conditioning units to make the coliseum's outbuildings suitable for housing. "When you really think about it, it's very heartbreaking,'' Hardberger said "Most of them have lost their homes, the great majority of their clothes and some of them have been hurt," he said. "We want to reach out our arms and take our fair share. That's what I told Gov. Perry: 'You allocate them and we'll make sure they're taken care of.' '' Perry spokesman Robert Black said the decision to take in 25,000 more evacuees was made after consulting with San Antonio and Bexar County officials. He said many logistics remain to be worked out. "We don't know when. We don't know where. We're working that out right now," Black said. The 25,000 refugees would be in addition to the 25,000 that Texas already has agreed to house at the Astrodome in Houston. In Beaumont, Ford Park Entertainment Complex is already home to some 1,250 people who have fled the storm and its aftermath. Perry had asked Jefferson County officials to use Ford Park for what could be weeks or months of cleanup in hurricane-affected parts of the Gulf Coast. ``Right now, we are focusing on taking care of the 1,250 evacuees we have right now, and making preparations to accept more.'' said Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith. Watching over the scene at Ford Exhibit Hall are local emergency management and law enforcement officials, the Beaumont Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Texas State Guard and hundreds of volunteers. ``Right now, we have all the supplies and food that we need,'' said Jo Ann Block, director of the Beaumont Red Cross. ``But what we need is monetary contributions so that more supplies can be purchased as needed.'' Griffith said the county is working with social service agencies to coordinate long-term plans for getting the evacuees into homes, children into schools and men and women back to work. Texas is also going to share its oil-spill expertise. The Texas General Land Office's oil spill response team is heading to Louisiana at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, according to land office spokesman Jim Suydam. Suydam said the team of 16 people is headed to Zeffer Field in Kenner. He said they have with them three air boats, four other boats and a bird rehabilitation truck. Suydam said the team has not yet received its assignment. chron.com