Baton Rouge inundated - But many get chilly reception

BATON ROUGE, La. - Locals greeted evacuees from Hurricane Katrina with a mixture of hospitality and frustration yesterday, as tens of thousands of relocated New Orleaneans maxed out area shelters, drained local resources and more than doubled the state capital's population.

"We're 800 above our capacity. Shreveport is the closest place of that I know of with vacancies. That's why you're seeing people on the streets," Chad Theunissen, Red Cross area coordinator, said yesterday.

More than 10,000 evacuees crowded into Red Cross shelters across Baton Rouge and surrounding areas, and as many as 20,000 more were expected, officials said.

Authorities were scrambling to find somewhere to put them. All of the shelters were already full or closed, including the largest - the 5,000-capacity River Center in downtown Baton Rouge.

A sign on the door yesterday said, "The River Center Is Full." Evacuees without green wristbands were turned away.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/342954p-292866c.html
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I am beginning to worry that the initial outpouring of support is going to cool in a lot of the citiies taking refugees, and that the immense size of the refugee crowds that need to be helped is going to result in a growing levels of strife. I hope I'm wrong.

the immediate death dealing emergency will subside as hope is about gone for more rescues (heat, dehydration starvation etc) and now the LONG TERM problems will proliferate, and they are not TV/visually friendly.

so the desperate people of all races and classes will become a burden and the public will turn on them in time.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

of our weak economy. The public will turn in part because the problems of these new homeless can't be fix easily. There aren't jobs and cheap housing waiting for them and too many of those willing to help now are scared to death of getting laid off or having mortgage debts which exceed the deflated value of their house once the housing market comes back to earth.
I agree, the mess is just starting. It isn't going to be pretty.

and the media spotlight will go away once all of NO is evacuated so goodness knows WHAT the victims will have to put up with when they are dispersed to these other cities.
Now at least the cameras show us what is really happening (which is best seen on a split screen with chimp and his felllow neocons holding a news conference saying "everything is going really well").

have all been worked out beforehand. All arrangements should have been in place. As one site filled up, others should have been made available.
Everything should have been according to worst case scenario.

Baton Rouge is a "staging ground"...Our shelters are full, so now people are received here initially and then transported to shelters elsewhere.

and the "inundated" is BS too...makes it sound like we're flooded. in fact we are high and dry...never was any significant flooding here

i guess this crap journalism is to be expected from the daily News

My parents used to live there, and I'm glad to hear this is bullshit (and hardly surprised that it is).

We do have quite a bit of people here, even outside of the shelters.

sloppy journalism for the sake of a lame pun

It's true that the traffic is awfully heavy...but that's to be expected. Besides evacuees there are all kinds of relief people coming. My cousin, who works as a firefighter for the forest service in Texas, is leading a team that will stage here in BR. (by the way, she says they have been ready for days but only just got the order from FEMA).

I think that the "inundated" refers to the refugees, not the flood waters.

Too bad there can't be penalties when "journalists" published truly half-assed or deliberately misleading information.

Bill White has said no one will be turned away from Houston.

I'm a Houstonian and I've seen my fellow Houstonians falling all over themselves to help out wherever we can and make them feel welcome.

My family in San Antonio reports the same welcome over there.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-31-astrodome_x.htm

edit: I'm sure the other locations in LA are simply temporarily overwhelmed. We're a big state, they are still dealing w/their infrastructure problems from the storm.

Are we being intentionally divided here? Is there money in fostering strife between the victims and those who help them?

I've seen some bullshit stories about Houston's alleged heartlessness, too.

Houston AstroDome (which was mis-characterized and sensationalized).

That is why mayor Bill White immediately came out to dispel the myth that Houston was closing it's doors to LA residents.

He came out forcefully and said Houston will accept ANY and ALL.
Mayor White vowed no one will be turned away.

We just had to open more places and move around some groups.
He didn't want a repeat of the SuperDome situation.
Houston expects to welcome LA residents to stay for a long time, possibly permanently.
We have enrolled their school-age children in local schools and are providing all LA residents with TX aid programs (food stamps, etc) as though they were permanent residents.

To my chagrin, I actually repeated that bullshit to someone. Thus, my question: why is the media doing this? What is the benefit to their benefactors?

Result? Diverts heat off the real terrorists, BushCo and his PNACracy, which has bought up ALL of Congress and virtually of the ruling class.

Tens of thousands are being housed and fed in BR...My helped wife served dinner(barbecued chicken and baked baens) last night to the 400 who are being sheltered at the community center in Port Allen. They were extremely appreciative. I could go on and on, but the response here is just what one should expect

People will get wore out eventualy and want to get back to their own lifes a couple of months from now.

In areas where there already are housing shortages for low income people.. watch out. These people will get first dibs, because the world will be watching. We know the programs that handle this are underfunded.

Unemployment in the areas were these people area headed will sky rocket. If there are no jobs for the people all ready there.....

Wealfare is state run. What federal dollars for the year had all ready been allocated, etc. These people will qualify for state welfare. The federal government might give the system a "token" additional amount, but as we can guess.. it will not be enough. Also, Welfare workers are understaffed and underpaid. The amount of applicants have risen a great deal because of this.. will more people be hired? Not if the budget to hire people isn't increased.....

Donations will slow down. People who give to the Red Cross, etc NOW will think they have done their part. They will not give to the local groups who will end up with the long term care of these people.

People donating shelters will eventualy want their "space" back. Will found out that they can not get it back until housing is found for folks. Housing might be in short supply.

Having a "guest" in your home isn't as easy as it seems. Eventualy, those that take people into their homes will wish they would move on. It's human nature. But many of those people will not be able to. They have "shelter" and the government will not see them as high priority. They will try to clear out "BIG" shelters first, before they can help those in privite homes. They figure the situation will encourage all partys to figure out how to do it on their own.

City Governments have all ready figured this out. That is why they were not quick to volunteer their city/town. Remember when Carter sent refregees to Arkansas when Clinton was Gov? Carter promised they would not be there long. Clinton got "stuck" with a political nightmare and lost the next election.

This is why I mentioned that churches and other local groups should do "adopt a family". The bigger the church or group, the more familys they could adopt. This will allow these people to find REAL shelter all across the land. EVERY community would have a hand in carrying the cost of this. Since many communitees have more then one church and groups, several familys can move together. Extended familys, infact. So they are not so strung out across America. It would be better to be in the next town, then in a different state.

are not our brother's keeper, that it is every man for himself.

If bush had felt that there would be no political backlash, there'd still not be any aid to NO and other affected regions.

Oh well, Trent Lott's home would be rebuilt.

...for all the poor and dispossessed in the nation - starting with these people.
BushCo do not have a clue what a tide is turning on them with this. the problems are enormous and affect and will affect us all.
Time for shared sacrifice.
Repeal the tax cuts.
End the war.

bushco is unable, incapable of actually thinking about these peoples lives and the impact their numbers will have on the local economies where they wind up.

all repukes can think about is how to get tax dollars into the hands of private corporations.