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From a wise justslackin (yahoo group) poster: It is obvious, this disaster isn't large enough and they need it to be as huge as possible. So what is the benefit for all these folks dying, well, the rich get richer I hear, Greenspan loves these low income people coming off his roles, it make the standard of living look higher without any but those making bucks off the disaster getting more money. I am sure they are looking for a permanent displacement of people so that they cannot organize. I am sure that as soon as they can get most of the folk out of N.O. that they next levee will go, even if they have to blow it up. ----- Original Message ----- From: lynnzy To: news ; justslackin@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 9:35 AM Subject: Update on Evacuees who are heading to California- Mercury News.com
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/12579095.htm
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Posted on Wed, Sep. 07, 2005
From Gulf Coast to West Coast
GETTING SET FOR EVACUEES: CITIES, AGENCIES PREPARE PLACES FOR DISPLACED
By Mary Anne Ostrom, Dana Hull and Becky Bartindale
Mercury News
In San Jose, they are scouting out the best housing options, including vacant San Jose State housing, for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. In San Francisco, the cots and portable showers are up and they are stocking a children's playroom. But on Tuesday, there still was no sign of the hundreds of evacuees expected in the Bay Area.
Local emergency officials said they were waiting for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state officials to send the word about when shelters would open. Mayors of San Jose, which has said it could accommodate 100 people, and San Francisco, which expects as many as 300, said late Tuesday they expected to make announcements today about the status of their shelter plans.
Some Bay Area African-American leaders, however, were angry that those plans favored the Red Cross instead of allowing the displaced to move in with local African-American families who had volunteered their homes.
They also criticized San Francisco for placing armed sheriff's deputies in front of a planned shelter underneath St. Mary's Cathedral.
``Armed sheriffs at the doors, what kind of welcome is that,'' said Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP. ``They should be user-friendly and culturally sensitive and inclusive.''
The Red Cross Bay Area chapter, which does not cover Santa Clara County, said it has begun training more African-American volunteers to help when evacuees arrive, but said taking traumatized people into private homes is not ideal or sometimes even safe. Instead, spokesman Greg Smith said they plan to move the evacuees out of shelters within a few days to hotels and motel rooms.
In San Jose, Mayor Ron Gonzales' staff met with city housing and emergency staff and community organizations to work on a plan for housing as many as 100 people. ``It's a moving operation with a lot of pieces,'' said Gonzales spokesman David Vossbrink. ``People will be coming whose whole communities have been destroyed, people who may feel culture shock in that they've not had much experience outside their own towns.''
San Jose State University has offered now-vacant Spartan Village -- about 60 apartment units that served as student family housing -- and was waiting to hear from city officials. Unlike San Francisco, San Jose officials are not saying where they are considering housing evacuees. Vossbrink said officials are considering a range of options including ``commercial space,'' as in hotels/motels, or ``institutional space,'' as in shelters or affordable housing.
In San Francisco, Red Cross and Catholic Charities are planning to accept evacuees in the cavernous rooms underneath the city's Catholic cathedral. Each person will be given a cot and bag of supplies, including toothbrushes, shampoo and other toiletries.
Despite the readiness of Bay Area residents to help, there were growing signs of frustration on Tuesday.
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said that Michael Brown, the director of FEMA, should be fired or resign. Lee said that her constituents -- many of whom survived the Loma Prieta earthquake and the Oakland hills fire -- have been generous in their response.
But they are also angry.
``They want to see a lot of questions answered that have not been answered,'' Lee said. ``Because of the delay, so many people died.''
At the same time, others were reaching out in small ways. Palo Alto dentist Bob Mezzitti is making a new set of dentures for a displaced storm victim staying with relatives in Palo Alto. And the owner of a San Jose automobile body shop, Arseen Autobody, is donating $100 in the name of customers who request it to the Red Cross.
``Did you see those poor kids on the TV,'' said owner Bahram Saghari. ``I just had to do something.''
Many Bay Area school districts have vowed to take as many children as they can. But it's not clear when an estimated 100 evacuees will arrive at San Jose shelters, or how many school-age children will be in that group.
Bellarmine College Prep, a Catholic school in San Jose, has plans in place to accept displaced students from Jesuit New Orleans, their sister school, and have room for other South Bay evacuees.
After a harrowing road trip from his New Orleans home to a Florida hotel, and three days of wondering what might come next followed by a cross-country flight to his aunt's house, 3-year-old Quinn Farnet needed a place to settle down.
On Tuesday, he was welcomed without ceremony or paperwork to a Menlo Park preschool. ``He had a ball,'' said his mother, Lynne Farnet. ``People couldn't have been nicer. Everybody has been so, so nice.''
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Mercury News Staff Writers Deborah Lohse and S.L. Wykes and photographer Pauline Lubens contributed to this report. Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.
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