The U.S. Postal Service announced this morning that evacuees at the Astrodome will be able to receive mail as early as Saturday.
The service created a special ZIP code to handle the mail: 77230.
Anyone who thinks they may have a friend or loved one sheltered at the Astrodome should address letters by name, with the address General Delivery, Houston, TX 77230.
The mail that comes in will be at the north ticket area at an onsite trailer, said Cliff Rucker, district manager for the U.S. Postal Service in Houston.
Rucker also said because of limited mail delivery in some ZIP codes in Louisiana, mail that cannot be delivered there has been diverted to Houston and will be processed, sorted and held here until addresses in those ZIP codes are available for service.
For Texans and Everyone-Oppurtunities to help
Moderator: S2k Moderators
http://keyetv.com/localnews/local_story_244115417.html
http://keyetv.com/topstories/topstories ... 15204.html
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/d ... ature.html
San Antonio To Take Additional 25,000 Hurricane Refugees
Sep 1, 2005 4:00 pm US/Central
What used to be Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio will soon shelter thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Texas earlier opened the Astrodome in Houston to evacuees from the Superdome in New Orleans. Now Texas has agreed to house up to 25-thousand more evacuees from Louisiana in San Antonio. A shelter is being created at what's now Kelly U-S-A, which is a sprawling city-owned complex
San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger says he'd be pretty reluctant to turn away anyone who's hungry. The refugees are expected to arrive at the shelter on their own, but some will be bused in from the crowded Astrodome in Houston. Meanwhile, Governor Rick Perry today plans to visit another shelter Reunion Arena in Dallas.
http://keyetv.com/topstories/topstories ... 15204.html
Man Could Still Find Relocated People
Sep 2, 2005 10:44 am US/Central
HOUSTON (AP) The U.S. Postal Service is making arrangements to get mail to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.
Officials are urging the evacuees to file change-of-address cards listing their shelter’s address. The plan could help reunite familiy members sent to shelters in various cities.
A change of address can be filed by telephone at 1-800 ASK-USPS.
People who believe they may have family members at the Houston Astrodome can address their mail to the named individual at “ General Delivery Houston, Texas 77230.” Similar arrangements are being made for major shelters set up for people evacuated to other areas of the U.S.
The district manager for the U.S Postal Service in Houston says the agency’s headquarters staff began putting the plan together before Hurricane Katrina hit last weekend.
Mail for much of Louisiana has been forwarded to Houston.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/d ... ature.html
Hurricane Relief Efforts Underway in Austin
Katrina refugees in Austin update
BY AMY SMITH
With an estimated 5,000 hurricane evacuees expected to arrive in Austin this weekend, local Red Cross officials were scrambling today to find additional housing and temporary shelters.
The Austin Hotel & Motel Association as well as local apartment managers were coordinating efforts with Red Cross officials. The Austin Convention Center and the University of Texas Erwin Center were being considered this morning as possible shelters for hurricane evacuees, as the smaller Burger Activity Center in South Austin was expected to reach capacity tonight or tomorrow.
"We're looking at parking, feeding, and other logistics," Red Cross spokeswoman Marty McKellips said. As of Thursday night, about 60 people had arrived at the Burger Center.
But with hundreds more evacuees anticipated throughout the Labor Day weekend, Red Cross and Austin Emergency Management officials were plotting an extended course of action.
Meanwhile, Mayor Will Wynn is asking residents and businesses to open their hearts, minds, and wallets to the hurricane victims as they continue arriving in Austin. We are asking people to make an unprecedented contribution, mayoral aide Matt Curtis said, while fielding phone calls.
Were asking everyone to be open-minded and do whatever it takes to help these people. The mayor is putting out a call for volunteers, prayers, and money.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Breaking News
From Staff Reporters
DALLAS, Texas - From 2 to 7 p.m. today WFAA ABC 8 is hosting a drive-through to collect monetary donations in front of its studios at Young and Record Streets in downtown Dallas. All funds will go to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
From Staff Reporters
DALLAS, Texas - From 2 to 7 p.m. today WFAA ABC 8 is hosting a drive-through to collect monetary donations in front of its studios at Young and Record Streets in downtown Dallas. All funds will go to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
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Housing Match-ups
Offer, Receive Housing
Make A Home: http://www.har.com/harhelps/ Houston Association Of Realtors, (713) 748-GIVE (4483)
Crawford Cares: http://www.crawfordcares.com/ Small businesses adopt evacuated families.
Houston Apartment Association, (281) 933-2224, http://www.haaonline.org/HAAWEB/HAA/hk/ ... 1_home.cfm will offer reduced rent to evacuees at certain properties, depending on availability.
Harris County Housing Authority, 8410 Lantern Point, (713) 578-2150, http://www.hchatexas.org/ has 500 units available for evacuees who received "HUD Section-8 Housing-Choice Vouchers."
HurricaneHousing.org: http://www.hurricanehousing.org/ Refugees can search for free housing and residents can offer free housing.
City Wide Club of Clubs Adopt-A-Family/Share-Your-Home Project, (713) 752-CLUB (2582)
Operation Share Your Home http://www.shareyourhome.org/index.html
Harris County Housing Resource Center http://www.hrc.hctx.net/
--------
While thousands flee Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi because of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, many are looking to the Houston Area for shelter.
This partnership between KPRC TV, the Houston Association of REALTORS®, the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Area Urban League, and the Houston Young Lawyers Association is designed to make housing information available to the victims of one of the worst storms in U.S. history.
KPRC Television will create phone banks and an ongoing effort to place Hurricane Katrina refugees in housing provided in the Houston Area. Homeowners with rooms, single or multi-family properties, condo's, beachomes and any other type of shelter will be able to post the information to the HAR.COM Web Site at http://www.HAR.com/RealtorsHelp.
Information can be accessed by care providers or victims of the Hurricane on the site and by calling, 713-271-1905.
Make A Home: http://www.har.com/harhelps/ Houston Association Of Realtors, (713) 748-GIVE (4483)
Crawford Cares: http://www.crawfordcares.com/ Small businesses adopt evacuated families.
Houston Apartment Association, (281) 933-2224, http://www.haaonline.org/HAAWEB/HAA/hk/ ... 1_home.cfm will offer reduced rent to evacuees at certain properties, depending on availability.
Harris County Housing Authority, 8410 Lantern Point, (713) 578-2150, http://www.hchatexas.org/ has 500 units available for evacuees who received "HUD Section-8 Housing-Choice Vouchers."
HurricaneHousing.org: http://www.hurricanehousing.org/ Refugees can search for free housing and residents can offer free housing.
City Wide Club of Clubs Adopt-A-Family/Share-Your-Home Project, (713) 752-CLUB (2582)
Operation Share Your Home http://www.shareyourhome.org/index.html
Harris County Housing Resource Center http://www.hrc.hctx.net/
--------
While thousands flee Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi because of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, many are looking to the Houston Area for shelter.
This partnership between KPRC TV, the Houston Association of REALTORS®, the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Area Urban League, and the Houston Young Lawyers Association is designed to make housing information available to the victims of one of the worst storms in U.S. history.
KPRC Television will create phone banks and an ongoing effort to place Hurricane Katrina refugees in housing provided in the Houston Area. Homeowners with rooms, single or multi-family properties, condo's, beachomes and any other type of shelter will be able to post the information to the HAR.COM Web Site at http://www.HAR.com/RealtorsHelp.
Information can be accessed by care providers or victims of the Hurricane on the site and by calling, 713-271-1905.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Dallas seeks housing help, finds little
By JENNIFER EMILY, DAVE LEVINTHAL and JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Caravans of buses hauling Hurricane Katrina evacuees are headed for Dallas, where officials are desperately scrambling to find shelter for all of them.
But questions remained Friday about where the displaced would end up, as some suburbs balked at receiving them and questions were raised about the Red Cross' ability to provide food and other urgent needs.
Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, CEO of the local Red Cross, said the agency does not have enough cots even for those arriving at Reunion Arena, the city's primary evacuee center.
"We are certainly overwhelmed," she said. "We have no resources. If a city wants to open a shelter, we will pay for the food. This is an unprecedented event for our city, our state, for our nation. The focus is on keeping them safe and getting a roof over their head."
She said the relief agency has requested more cots from the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA did not return several phone calls Friday.
The local Red Cross sent experienced volunteers and response vehicles to New Orleans before it found out that Dallas would receive evacuees.
As Dallas officials struggled to prepare for the onslaught of evacuees, Mayor Laura Miller blasted Gov. Rick Perry for visiting Dallas on Thursday but not informing her or Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm personally that 25,000 evacuees would soon be on their way to Dallas.
The state has also failed to make good on its promise of cots and blankets for the city's shelters, Ms. Miller said.
"I'm amazed at the lack of help we're getting," the mayor said. "The state has done zero to help us, the governor has done zero to help us – besides coming here for a photo op."
Ms. Miller also panned other state and federal officials for a lack of communication with Dallas officials. The mayor said she learned from Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, not FEMA or the governor's office, that the federal agency ordered Dallas to accept 25,000 evacuees.
On Friday, city officials, in conjunction with their Dallas County counterparts, found themselves pleading with surrounding counties and municipalities for help. Convincing other municipalities to help has not proved easy, however. Dallas possesses only the power of persuasion over its neighbors.
Dallas officials say the city can house only 10,000 in Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center, the city's two primary shelters. Tarrant County agreed to take 4,000.
Denton County Judge Mary Horn said Friday that she had made arrangements with Dallas to move women and children into a couple of Denton County Jail barracks in Denton.
She said she requested women and children because the barracks have air conditioning, showers and restrooms but not a lot of privacy. The jail's food vendor has been contacted and will provide meals, she said. Evacuees will be taken to the barracks tonight at the earliest, she said.
Denton city officials say Dallas officials asked them whether they could house evacuees. But the city had to turn them down because they don't have the resources or personnel to run such an emergency shelter, city spokesman John Cabrales said.
Plano expects to decide as early as today whether to open a shelter for as many as 2,000 people.
Fort Worth to take 4,000
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said that emergency management officials have identified space in the county for 4,000 evacuees.
"That's the capacity we have identified, and I don't want to say we have the capacity to do more until I'm sure," he said. "We only have what we have. The last thing we want to do is put people where they are not comfortable or safe."
In Arlington, Mayor Robert Cluck estimated that his city could house 2,000 or more evacuees, but he said that's a "moving target." Several recreation centers are being converted to temporary housing, and a Salvation Army shelter can hold several hundred more.
The Eastern Star Home, a former fraternal retirement home, and a 200,000-square-foot building owned by Trammell Crow have been offered as shelters for as long as the buildings are needed.
"We know that 25,000 are coming to Dallas, but one city should not have to bear an undue burden," Dr. Cluck said. "We're prepared to take care of as many as we can."
Dr. Cluck said the first day or two of regional planning was fragmented, but by Friday, the process was working more smoothly. A decision was made to create a single intake center for Tarrant County near the Tarrant County Community College Southeast Campus in Fort Worth. The evacuees would then be taken to shelters throughout the county.
In addition to Reunion and the Convention Center, some evacuees will be housed in the Decker Detention Center, county officials said. They said they will move inmates out of Decker, which the county used as a jail from the 1970s until mothballing it in 2002. It has been reopened several times since to handle overflow population from the main jail facilities.
City officials said Friday that no single leader is coordinating preparations for the onslaught of evacuees.
"This is a unified command, as we say in the police department," said Ms. Suhm, Dallas city manager.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said, "We're hoping for the best and preparing for the worst," about the security situation caused by thousands of beleaguered people flocking downtown. "We don't know what kinds of populations we'll be getting on the buses. New Orleans has historically been a violent city. But we will keep the residents of Dallas safe."
Fifty officers per shift will patrol Reunion while 100 will patrol the Convention Center, Chief Kunkle said.
So far, 50 Texas State Guard members have supplemented Dallas' policing effort, although Chief Kunkle said he hopes more will arrive.
The Mesquite Fire Department provided a depot at Big Town Mall for buses carrying evacuees from New Orleans to Dallas. They expected 30 to 60 buses Friday evening with an average of 40 people on each bus. Tents and metal detectors were set up in the parking lot.
Forever altered?
Some experts said the long-term implications of this wave of migration could alter the face of Dallas. In recent American history there is no precedent for such an influx of people with so many needs, said Dr. Jeff Ferrell, a sociology professor at Texas Christian University who has researched urban dynamics. Sociologists have studied cities wiped out by flooding, but none the size of New Orleans.
"It's going to take not only courage and generosity but creativity," Dr. Ferrell said. "I think it's going to force us to imagine ways of working together and pooling resources that we haven't been forced to do in the past."
Dallas-area agencies providing evacuee resettlement services met repeatedly to prepare to help the displaced find housing, long-term medical care, schools and jobs.
"The bruised, the battered and the broken will arrive from here on out. They have less going for them as far as resources, skills and connections," said Brian Burton, executive director of the Wilkinson Center, which helps people get back on their feet. "I don't think there has ever been anything like this before. We're all kind of wait and see and a little bit nervous."
Sister Mary Anne Owens, director of Catholic Charities in North Texas, the area's largest refugee resettlement service provider, said the agency is sending volunteers out this weekend to find apartments and houses for rent.
"This will be a long-term effort," she said. "Some of these people will be here for years."
Staff writer Ernesto Londono, Sherry Jacobson, Tiara M. Ellis, Kevin Krause, Jim O'Neil and Richard Abshire contributed to this report.
By JENNIFER EMILY, DAVE LEVINTHAL and JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Caravans of buses hauling Hurricane Katrina evacuees are headed for Dallas, where officials are desperately scrambling to find shelter for all of them.
But questions remained Friday about where the displaced would end up, as some suburbs balked at receiving them and questions were raised about the Red Cross' ability to provide food and other urgent needs.
Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, CEO of the local Red Cross, said the agency does not have enough cots even for those arriving at Reunion Arena, the city's primary evacuee center.
"We are certainly overwhelmed," she said. "We have no resources. If a city wants to open a shelter, we will pay for the food. This is an unprecedented event for our city, our state, for our nation. The focus is on keeping them safe and getting a roof over their head."
She said the relief agency has requested more cots from the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA did not return several phone calls Friday.
The local Red Cross sent experienced volunteers and response vehicles to New Orleans before it found out that Dallas would receive evacuees.
As Dallas officials struggled to prepare for the onslaught of evacuees, Mayor Laura Miller blasted Gov. Rick Perry for visiting Dallas on Thursday but not informing her or Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm personally that 25,000 evacuees would soon be on their way to Dallas.
The state has also failed to make good on its promise of cots and blankets for the city's shelters, Ms. Miller said.
"I'm amazed at the lack of help we're getting," the mayor said. "The state has done zero to help us, the governor has done zero to help us – besides coming here for a photo op."
Ms. Miller also panned other state and federal officials for a lack of communication with Dallas officials. The mayor said she learned from Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, not FEMA or the governor's office, that the federal agency ordered Dallas to accept 25,000 evacuees.
On Friday, city officials, in conjunction with their Dallas County counterparts, found themselves pleading with surrounding counties and municipalities for help. Convincing other municipalities to help has not proved easy, however. Dallas possesses only the power of persuasion over its neighbors.
Dallas officials say the city can house only 10,000 in Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center, the city's two primary shelters. Tarrant County agreed to take 4,000.
Denton County Judge Mary Horn said Friday that she had made arrangements with Dallas to move women and children into a couple of Denton County Jail barracks in Denton.
She said she requested women and children because the barracks have air conditioning, showers and restrooms but not a lot of privacy. The jail's food vendor has been contacted and will provide meals, she said. Evacuees will be taken to the barracks tonight at the earliest, she said.
Denton city officials say Dallas officials asked them whether they could house evacuees. But the city had to turn them down because they don't have the resources or personnel to run such an emergency shelter, city spokesman John Cabrales said.
Plano expects to decide as early as today whether to open a shelter for as many as 2,000 people.
Fort Worth to take 4,000
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said that emergency management officials have identified space in the county for 4,000 evacuees.
"That's the capacity we have identified, and I don't want to say we have the capacity to do more until I'm sure," he said. "We only have what we have. The last thing we want to do is put people where they are not comfortable or safe."
In Arlington, Mayor Robert Cluck estimated that his city could house 2,000 or more evacuees, but he said that's a "moving target." Several recreation centers are being converted to temporary housing, and a Salvation Army shelter can hold several hundred more.
The Eastern Star Home, a former fraternal retirement home, and a 200,000-square-foot building owned by Trammell Crow have been offered as shelters for as long as the buildings are needed.
"We know that 25,000 are coming to Dallas, but one city should not have to bear an undue burden," Dr. Cluck said. "We're prepared to take care of as many as we can."
Dr. Cluck said the first day or two of regional planning was fragmented, but by Friday, the process was working more smoothly. A decision was made to create a single intake center for Tarrant County near the Tarrant County Community College Southeast Campus in Fort Worth. The evacuees would then be taken to shelters throughout the county.
In addition to Reunion and the Convention Center, some evacuees will be housed in the Decker Detention Center, county officials said. They said they will move inmates out of Decker, which the county used as a jail from the 1970s until mothballing it in 2002. It has been reopened several times since to handle overflow population from the main jail facilities.
City officials said Friday that no single leader is coordinating preparations for the onslaught of evacuees.
"This is a unified command, as we say in the police department," said Ms. Suhm, Dallas city manager.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said, "We're hoping for the best and preparing for the worst," about the security situation caused by thousands of beleaguered people flocking downtown. "We don't know what kinds of populations we'll be getting on the buses. New Orleans has historically been a violent city. But we will keep the residents of Dallas safe."
Fifty officers per shift will patrol Reunion while 100 will patrol the Convention Center, Chief Kunkle said.
So far, 50 Texas State Guard members have supplemented Dallas' policing effort, although Chief Kunkle said he hopes more will arrive.
The Mesquite Fire Department provided a depot at Big Town Mall for buses carrying evacuees from New Orleans to Dallas. They expected 30 to 60 buses Friday evening with an average of 40 people on each bus. Tents and metal detectors were set up in the parking lot.
Forever altered?
Some experts said the long-term implications of this wave of migration could alter the face of Dallas. In recent American history there is no precedent for such an influx of people with so many needs, said Dr. Jeff Ferrell, a sociology professor at Texas Christian University who has researched urban dynamics. Sociologists have studied cities wiped out by flooding, but none the size of New Orleans.
"It's going to take not only courage and generosity but creativity," Dr. Ferrell said. "I think it's going to force us to imagine ways of working together and pooling resources that we haven't been forced to do in the past."
Dallas-area agencies providing evacuee resettlement services met repeatedly to prepare to help the displaced find housing, long-term medical care, schools and jobs.
"The bruised, the battered and the broken will arrive from here on out. They have less going for them as far as resources, skills and connections," said Brian Burton, executive director of the Wilkinson Center, which helps people get back on their feet. "I don't think there has ever been anything like this before. We're all kind of wait and see and a little bit nervous."
Sister Mary Anne Owens, director of Catholic Charities in North Texas, the area's largest refugee resettlement service provider, said the agency is sending volunteers out this weekend to find apartments and houses for rent.
"This will be a long-term effort," she said. "Some of these people will be here for years."
Staff writer Ernesto Londono, Sherry Jacobson, Tiara M. Ellis, Kevin Krause, Jim O'Neil and Richard Abshire contributed to this report.
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southerngale
- Retired Staff
- Posts: 27418
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 1:27 am
- Location: Southeast Texas (Beaumont area)
Evacuee Shelters / Important Numbers
( Air Date: 9/3/2005 )
These are the following shelters in the Golden Triangle.
If you would like to make a donation (monetary or product) or volunteer, please contact the individual shelter.
FORD PARK
5115 IH-10 SOUTH
BEAUMONT
(409) 729-1717
(409) 951-5495
(409) 951-5496
**FULL**
THE SALVATION ARMY
2350 I-10 EAST
BEAUMONT
(409) 896-2361
Y.M.C.A., L.L. MELTON FAMILY BRANCH
3455 SARAH STREET
BEAUMONT
(409) 842-5550
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
602 GREEN AVENUE
ORANGE
(409) 886-7461
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
9788 FM 105
ORANGE
(409) 735-3113
COMMUNITY CHURCH
1911 NORTH 16TH STREET
ORANGE
(409) 883-6779
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
902 GREEN AVENUE
ORANGE
(409) 883-2097
NORTH ORANGE BAPTIST CHURCH
4775 16TH STREET
ORANGE
(409) 883-5678
FIRST CHURCH OF NAZARENE
3810 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JUNIOR DRIVE
ORANGE
(409) 883-4674
FELLOWSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH
1965 MILLER DRIVE
BRIDGE CITY
(409) 735-9511
SECOND BATIST CHURCH
340 BLAND DRIVE
BRIDGE CITY
(409) 735-8156
CORNERSTONE BAPTIST CHURCH
145 EVANGELINE DRIVE
VIDOR
(409) 769-0119
SHEPHERD`S INN: GASPARD CENTER
2689 65TH STREET
PORT ARTHUR
(409) 736-3980
PROCTER BAPTIST CHURCH
4401 JIMMY JOHNSON BOULEVARD
PORT ARTHUR
(409) 722-8097
GOOD SHEPHERD BAPTIST CHURCH
3700 FM 92
SILSBEE
(409) 385-3373
(409) 651-8921
TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH
4301 32ND STREET
PORT ARTHUR
(409) 962-5731
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH-DEWEYVILLE
111 PIRATE DRIVE
DEWEYVILLE
(409) 746-3809
NEW WINE CHURCH
1600 HIGHWAY 69 SOUTH
KOUNTZE
(409) 246-2928
HUMANE SOCIETY OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
2050 SPINDLETOP ROAD
BEAUMONT
(409) 833-0504
Important Help Numbers
Texas State Information Center -- 211
New Orleans, Non-Emergency -- (504) 821-2222
Louisiana State Police –- (504) 471-2775
Office of Emergency Management –- (504) 658-8700
Office of Homeland Security –- (504) 658-6900
Federal Emergency Management –- (800) 621-FEMA (3362)
Red Cross HELP LINE –- (800) 435-7669
Salvation Army HELP LINE –- (800) 725-2769
LifeShare Blood Center –- (409) 838-5289
School District Numbers to Register Students
Beaumont I.S.D.
(409) 981-7856
(409) 981-7888
Port Arthur I.S.D.
(409) 989-6212
West-Orange Cove C.I.S.D.
(409) 882-5437
Bridge City I.S.D.
(409) 735-1602
Nederland I.S.D.
(409) 724-2391 x1235
Port Neches-Groves I.S.D.
(409) 722-4244
Sabine Pass I.S.D
(409) 971-2321
http://www.kbtv4.tv/news/default.asp?mo ... ws&id=9361
( Air Date: 9/3/2005 )
These are the following shelters in the Golden Triangle.
If you would like to make a donation (monetary or product) or volunteer, please contact the individual shelter.
FORD PARK
5115 IH-10 SOUTH
BEAUMONT
(409) 729-1717
(409) 951-5495
(409) 951-5496
**FULL**
THE SALVATION ARMY
2350 I-10 EAST
BEAUMONT
(409) 896-2361
Y.M.C.A., L.L. MELTON FAMILY BRANCH
3455 SARAH STREET
BEAUMONT
(409) 842-5550
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
602 GREEN AVENUE
ORANGE
(409) 886-7461
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
9788 FM 105
ORANGE
(409) 735-3113
COMMUNITY CHURCH
1911 NORTH 16TH STREET
ORANGE
(409) 883-6779
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
902 GREEN AVENUE
ORANGE
(409) 883-2097
NORTH ORANGE BAPTIST CHURCH
4775 16TH STREET
ORANGE
(409) 883-5678
FIRST CHURCH OF NAZARENE
3810 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JUNIOR DRIVE
ORANGE
(409) 883-4674
FELLOWSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH
1965 MILLER DRIVE
BRIDGE CITY
(409) 735-9511
SECOND BATIST CHURCH
340 BLAND DRIVE
BRIDGE CITY
(409) 735-8156
CORNERSTONE BAPTIST CHURCH
145 EVANGELINE DRIVE
VIDOR
(409) 769-0119
SHEPHERD`S INN: GASPARD CENTER
2689 65TH STREET
PORT ARTHUR
(409) 736-3980
PROCTER BAPTIST CHURCH
4401 JIMMY JOHNSON BOULEVARD
PORT ARTHUR
(409) 722-8097
GOOD SHEPHERD BAPTIST CHURCH
3700 FM 92
SILSBEE
(409) 385-3373
(409) 651-8921
TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH
4301 32ND STREET
PORT ARTHUR
(409) 962-5731
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH-DEWEYVILLE
111 PIRATE DRIVE
DEWEYVILLE
(409) 746-3809
NEW WINE CHURCH
1600 HIGHWAY 69 SOUTH
KOUNTZE
(409) 246-2928
HUMANE SOCIETY OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
2050 SPINDLETOP ROAD
BEAUMONT
(409) 833-0504
Important Help Numbers
Texas State Information Center -- 211
New Orleans, Non-Emergency -- (504) 821-2222
Louisiana State Police –- (504) 471-2775
Office of Emergency Management –- (504) 658-8700
Office of Homeland Security –- (504) 658-6900
Federal Emergency Management –- (800) 621-FEMA (3362)
Red Cross HELP LINE –- (800) 435-7669
Salvation Army HELP LINE –- (800) 725-2769
LifeShare Blood Center –- (409) 838-5289
School District Numbers to Register Students
Beaumont I.S.D.
(409) 981-7856
(409) 981-7888
Port Arthur I.S.D.
(409) 989-6212
West-Orange Cove C.I.S.D.
(409) 882-5437
Bridge City I.S.D.
(409) 735-1602
Nederland I.S.D.
(409) 724-2391 x1235
Port Neches-Groves I.S.D.
(409) 722-4244
Sabine Pass I.S.D
(409) 971-2321
http://www.kbtv4.tv/news/default.asp?mo ... ws&id=9361
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Volunteer Opportunity
The interfaith pledge to feed the evacuees in Houston this month will need many volunteers to help prepare and serve the 750,000 meals planned.
There will be a MASS TRAINING session tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 4, at 2 PM, at Second Baptist Church, Voss at Woodway.
Once trained, volunteer time will be for 4-hour shifts.
They expect 6,000 people, but need as many as possible to help out.
For more info, call Volunteer Houston, 713-965-0031.
There will be a MASS TRAINING session tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 4, at 2 PM, at Second Baptist Church, Voss at Woodway.
Once trained, volunteer time will be for 4-hour shifts.
They expect 6,000 people, but need as many as possible to help out.
For more info, call Volunteer Houston, 713-965-0031.
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THead
- S2K Supporter
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- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:09 pm
- Location: Lauderhill, Fla./Jefferson, Ga.
Here's an idea for raising some money for the victims. Our company is allowing employees to dress casual every day of the month of September, by paying $2 a day, or $30 for the month. All proceeds are going to the Red Cross. This is something that could really add up, and hopefully they'll be doing it for future months too.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Hurricane briefs
AREAWIDE
Dallas County not giving out food stamps or gas
Dallas County Health and Human Services officials sought Friday to dispel rumors circulating through e-mail and radio shows that the agency was providing food stamps and free gasoline to hurricane evacuees.
"We don't know where it started or how this started," said Jacqueline Bell, a spokeswoman for the agency. "The bottom line is: It's not true."
Ms. Bell said evacuees who reach the Dallas area should go to Reunion Arena to register, whether or not they need immediate housing.
She said some evacuees might be eligible for food stamps. Those who want to inquire about food stamp eligibility in Texas can call 1-888-312-4567.
The county health department is providing services to people who are being treated for tuberculosis and HIV.
The agency will assist people already receiving WIC benefits and/or housing vouchers. For information about these services, call 214-819-6001.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DALLAS
UT Southwestern doctors go to Louisiana
Dr. Paul Pepe, chairman of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, received an urgent call Sunday from a New Orleans colleague. Help would be needed after Hurricane Katrina blew through the area.
Dr. Pepe, along with other colleagues from UT Southwestern, made it as far as Baton Rouge, La. But it has been too dangerous for the doctors to stay in New Orleans because of violence. He tried several times to fly into Charity Hospital, the city's largest public hospital where the situation is particularly dire, but gunfire from the streets prevented his aircraft from landing.
In Baton Rouge, Dr. Pepe has worked to deploy medical resources and set up field hospitals in the region.
He said that authorities had heard about the thousands of people at the New Orleans convention center, many in need of medical care. He was uncertain why no one had been able to get supplies to them before Friday morning.
"You can imagine how frustrated we are about that," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$25,000 Minyard check goes to hurricane fund
The WFAA ABC 8 and The Dallas Morning News "Spirit of Texas Hurricane Relief Fund" got a boost Friday.
Minyard Food Stores executive vice presidents Michael Byars and Pat Liska presented a $25,000 check to the fund while about 20 WFAA-TV volunteers collected money from passing motorists.
Mr. Liska said Minyard stores will partner with WFAA-TV and The Dallas Morning News this month to gather donations for the fund from customers and employees.
Anyone who wants to contribute to the "Spirit of Texas" fund can go to any of the 350 Chase or Bank One locations in Texas.
Checks should be made payable to the "Spirit of Texas Hurricane Relief Fund" with "Hurricane Katrina Relief 2005" on the memo line.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FORT WORTH
Evacuees reunited with baby after anxious wait
Imagine fleeing a hurricane and leaving your newborn baby behind in a hospital.
That's what Lainie and Tad Breaux did. As Katrina moved in on New Orleans, they agonized over what to do about their 4-day-old son, Zachary, who was in the hospital there. They couldn't quickly buy the monitor and medicine that he needed for a breathing problem before they had to get on the road.
So with assurances from Methodist Hospital about their newborn's welfare, they packed up the car with two suitcases, their 5-year-old son, Benjamin, and their cat and dog, and left early Sunday on a 12-hour trip ending up at a Houston hotel.
On Tuesday, the Breauxes got a call from San Diego. It was the sister of one of the nurses, telling them that Zachary was doing well.
But that was all they heard for two days, as desperate scenes from New Orleans unfolded on TV. As they learned of hospitals evacuating patients, panic started to set in.
The Breauxes and friends and family started calling hospitals in five states, trying to determine whether Zachary had been transferred.
Thursday afternoon, a phone call finally came from "Tad's aunt's boyfriend's brother's wife's sister" to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth providing information. Mr. Breaux called the hospital and located the newborn. He and his family flew to Fort Worth on Thursday night to be with Zachary.
Zachary has been doing fine and has had no health problems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAPEVINE
Many agencies assisting with donations, services
The Hilton DFW Lakes Conference Center in Grapevine is at capacity with 650 evacuees, said Ken Smith, the hotel's senior vice president of operations.
Churches, organizations, schools and residents are helping with donations, he said.
"When you have a busload of people get off a bus and they have one little bag, two kids in tow ... it's heartwrenching."
The city's library is available, and evacuees will not have to register to use services, said City Manager Bruno Rumbelow.
Grapevine firefighters are collecting clothing and other items at the city's central fire station, 601 Boyd Drive. Diapers, car seats, shoes, and socks and boxes are among the needed items, said Craig Reed, a firefighter-paramedic.
Firefighters are also on the street with their "fill the boot" campaign asking for donations.
Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange (GRACE) is taking cash, checks and credit card donations, said Pat Frosch, director of programs for the agency.
GRACE is assisting families housed in hotels and private homes in Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville, Keller, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Watauga and western Irving.
They are helping displaced families with gas vouchers, food and prescriptions, Ms. Frosh said.
Evacuees must bring a photo identification to 610 Shady Brook Drive.
Ernesto Londono, Laura Beil, David Renfrow, Debra Dennis, and the Associated Press contributed to these report.
AREAWIDE
Dallas County not giving out food stamps or gas
Dallas County Health and Human Services officials sought Friday to dispel rumors circulating through e-mail and radio shows that the agency was providing food stamps and free gasoline to hurricane evacuees.
"We don't know where it started or how this started," said Jacqueline Bell, a spokeswoman for the agency. "The bottom line is: It's not true."
Ms. Bell said evacuees who reach the Dallas area should go to Reunion Arena to register, whether or not they need immediate housing.
She said some evacuees might be eligible for food stamps. Those who want to inquire about food stamp eligibility in Texas can call 1-888-312-4567.
The county health department is providing services to people who are being treated for tuberculosis and HIV.
The agency will assist people already receiving WIC benefits and/or housing vouchers. For information about these services, call 214-819-6001.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DALLAS
UT Southwestern doctors go to Louisiana
Dr. Paul Pepe, chairman of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, received an urgent call Sunday from a New Orleans colleague. Help would be needed after Hurricane Katrina blew through the area.
Dr. Pepe, along with other colleagues from UT Southwestern, made it as far as Baton Rouge, La. But it has been too dangerous for the doctors to stay in New Orleans because of violence. He tried several times to fly into Charity Hospital, the city's largest public hospital where the situation is particularly dire, but gunfire from the streets prevented his aircraft from landing.
In Baton Rouge, Dr. Pepe has worked to deploy medical resources and set up field hospitals in the region.
He said that authorities had heard about the thousands of people at the New Orleans convention center, many in need of medical care. He was uncertain why no one had been able to get supplies to them before Friday morning.
"You can imagine how frustrated we are about that," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$25,000 Minyard check goes to hurricane fund
The WFAA ABC 8 and The Dallas Morning News "Spirit of Texas Hurricane Relief Fund" got a boost Friday.
Minyard Food Stores executive vice presidents Michael Byars and Pat Liska presented a $25,000 check to the fund while about 20 WFAA-TV volunteers collected money from passing motorists.
Mr. Liska said Minyard stores will partner with WFAA-TV and The Dallas Morning News this month to gather donations for the fund from customers and employees.
Anyone who wants to contribute to the "Spirit of Texas" fund can go to any of the 350 Chase or Bank One locations in Texas.
Checks should be made payable to the "Spirit of Texas Hurricane Relief Fund" with "Hurricane Katrina Relief 2005" on the memo line.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FORT WORTH
Evacuees reunited with baby after anxious wait
Imagine fleeing a hurricane and leaving your newborn baby behind in a hospital.
That's what Lainie and Tad Breaux did. As Katrina moved in on New Orleans, they agonized over what to do about their 4-day-old son, Zachary, who was in the hospital there. They couldn't quickly buy the monitor and medicine that he needed for a breathing problem before they had to get on the road.
So with assurances from Methodist Hospital about their newborn's welfare, they packed up the car with two suitcases, their 5-year-old son, Benjamin, and their cat and dog, and left early Sunday on a 12-hour trip ending up at a Houston hotel.
On Tuesday, the Breauxes got a call from San Diego. It was the sister of one of the nurses, telling them that Zachary was doing well.
But that was all they heard for two days, as desperate scenes from New Orleans unfolded on TV. As they learned of hospitals evacuating patients, panic started to set in.
The Breauxes and friends and family started calling hospitals in five states, trying to determine whether Zachary had been transferred.
Thursday afternoon, a phone call finally came from "Tad's aunt's boyfriend's brother's wife's sister" to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth providing information. Mr. Breaux called the hospital and located the newborn. He and his family flew to Fort Worth on Thursday night to be with Zachary.
Zachary has been doing fine and has had no health problems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAPEVINE
Many agencies assisting with donations, services
The Hilton DFW Lakes Conference Center in Grapevine is at capacity with 650 evacuees, said Ken Smith, the hotel's senior vice president of operations.
Churches, organizations, schools and residents are helping with donations, he said.
"When you have a busload of people get off a bus and they have one little bag, two kids in tow ... it's heartwrenching."
The city's library is available, and evacuees will not have to register to use services, said City Manager Bruno Rumbelow.
Grapevine firefighters are collecting clothing and other items at the city's central fire station, 601 Boyd Drive. Diapers, car seats, shoes, and socks and boxes are among the needed items, said Craig Reed, a firefighter-paramedic.
Firefighters are also on the street with their "fill the boot" campaign asking for donations.
Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange (GRACE) is taking cash, checks and credit card donations, said Pat Frosch, director of programs for the agency.
GRACE is assisting families housed in hotels and private homes in Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville, Keller, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Watauga and western Irving.
They are helping displaced families with gas vouchers, food and prescriptions, Ms. Frosh said.
Evacuees must bring a photo identification to 610 Shady Brook Drive.
Ernesto Londono, Laura Beil, David Renfrow, Debra Dennis, and the Associated Press contributed to these report.
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Notes from Houston
Some notes from the Houston evacuee community:
.The turnout for the volunteer training session held yesterday for those who will help feed the displaced Katrina survivors in Houston exceeded expectations--more than 10,000 people showed up! They had only expected around 6000.
.Wonderful numbers on volunteers who helped out the first week at the Astrodome: (yikes, first "week" has ONLY been since Wednesday night--5 days!)
20,300; 3,400 on Sunday (yesterday) alone
.The second large shelter venue to open in Houston, at the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center ("the GRB") now has its own Zip Code for evacuees. Mail may be addressed to:
Ms. Jeanne Deaux
General Delivery
Houston, TX 77247
.So far, only 10 arrests have been reported at the Astrodome shelter; 9 for drug possession and 1 for assault. Last night, a possible evacuee (LA plates) plowed into several cars off-site on Richmond Ave. after hitting another car, then leading police on a 20-minute chase. Driver was DWI.
.Authorities are considering setting a curfew for Astrodome residents, as many complaints have been voiced by other evacuees about lots of drunks coming in at all hours and being loud. As it is now, everyone is allowed to come and go as they please, but many are wandering the streets and neighborhoods near the Dome at night.
.Oh, and as luck would have it, our marvelous downtown Metro light rail system, which is known for its many wrecks with cars and people, has already managed to have a run-in with an evacuee on the tracks, resulting in his being seriously injured and hospitalized. It was reported that he was wearing headphones and didn't hear the train approaching.
.100 families from the Dome have been placed with other families here in town; 500 evacuees from the Dome have signed leases on apartments and homes in our area
.2 more shelters are opening in Galveston and one in Austin to relieve crowding in the Houston shelters
.4000 patients have been seen by medical personnel; 50 per hour are getting examined. Of the 270 children still in triage, 97 have diarrhea and 150 have been hospitalized. CDC is coming to investigate the medical problems.
.The main goal is to get evacuees out of the Dome as soon as possible, as appropriate. Many families have been reunited.
.Our favorite Odd Couple brings their roadshow to the Dome in a few hours from the time of this post -- Bush41 and his buddy BillyJeff will pop in for a visit to announce the kickoff of their worldwide fund-raising drive.
.The turnout for the volunteer training session held yesterday for those who will help feed the displaced Katrina survivors in Houston exceeded expectations--more than 10,000 people showed up! They had only expected around 6000.
.Wonderful numbers on volunteers who helped out the first week at the Astrodome: (yikes, first "week" has ONLY been since Wednesday night--5 days!)
20,300; 3,400 on Sunday (yesterday) alone
.The second large shelter venue to open in Houston, at the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center ("the GRB") now has its own Zip Code for evacuees. Mail may be addressed to:
Ms. Jeanne Deaux
General Delivery
Houston, TX 77247
.So far, only 10 arrests have been reported at the Astrodome shelter; 9 for drug possession and 1 for assault. Last night, a possible evacuee (LA plates) plowed into several cars off-site on Richmond Ave. after hitting another car, then leading police on a 20-minute chase. Driver was DWI.
.Authorities are considering setting a curfew for Astrodome residents, as many complaints have been voiced by other evacuees about lots of drunks coming in at all hours and being loud. As it is now, everyone is allowed to come and go as they please, but many are wandering the streets and neighborhoods near the Dome at night.
.Oh, and as luck would have it, our marvelous downtown Metro light rail system, which is known for its many wrecks with cars and people, has already managed to have a run-in with an evacuee on the tracks, resulting in his being seriously injured and hospitalized. It was reported that he was wearing headphones and didn't hear the train approaching.
.100 families from the Dome have been placed with other families here in town; 500 evacuees from the Dome have signed leases on apartments and homes in our area
.2 more shelters are opening in Galveston and one in Austin to relieve crowding in the Houston shelters
.4000 patients have been seen by medical personnel; 50 per hour are getting examined. Of the 270 children still in triage, 97 have diarrhea and 150 have been hospitalized. CDC is coming to investigate the medical problems.
.The main goal is to get evacuees out of the Dome as soon as possible, as appropriate. Many families have been reunited.
.Our favorite Odd Couple brings their roadshow to the Dome in a few hours from the time of this post -- Bush41 and his buddy BillyJeff will pop in for a visit to announce the kickoff of their worldwide fund-raising drive.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Evacuees turning to help beyond downtown Dallas centers
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Thousands of unused cots were stacked high at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center on Monday as churches, suburban cities and individuals chipped in to defuse the crush of dispossessed.
Already, far more evacuees are living in an assortment of smaller shelters and hotels or doubled up with relatives than in the cavernous downtown Dallas relief centers.
Downtown volunteers served Sunday dinner to about 10,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees, but at bedtime at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center fewer than 1,800 of the approximately 8,200 prepared beds were occupied.
Reunion Arena remains the bureaucratic center for evacuees, perhaps skewing the prediction that Dallas would need to house more than 8,000 evacuees, said Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm. On Saturday, Mayor Laura Miller alerted federal emergency officials that the city could take no more.
"It's amazing to me that individuals have reached out and not waited for the bureaucracy," Ms. Suhm said. "What I'm worried about is help two to three weeks from now."
14,200 registered
Louisiana residents who escaped to Dallas before the storm are now coming to Reunion Arena to register and receive distinctive green or pink wristbands that identify them as evacuees. By Monday, the registration list had exceeded 14,200 names. Authorities do not have a system to track where evacuees are staying after they register.
The latest visitors to Dallas have scattered in many directions.
John Johnson, a 56-year-old New Orleans native, has been living with relatives in North Dallas for more than a week. Nine people are sharing a two-bedroom apartment. He did not register at Reunion Arena until seven days after he arrived.
"Myself, I'd stay," said the hotel worker who owns a home in uptown New Orleans. "But my wife, she wants to go back home."
Many are going from dense urban housing in New Orleans to North Texas suburbs. Thirty-six people traveling in three cars showed up at the First Baptist Church of Duncanville, quickly followed by a busload of 50 from the Superdome, said the Rev. Keith Brister.
Like shelters everywhere, the number is fluctuating as fragmented families reunite and others move into longer-term housing.
"They leave and come every hour," Mr. Brister said, noting that the church got a call at 2 a.m. asking if it had space for 100. "We're trying to assess who's here to stay and who's heading out."
Public housing efforts
Dallas Housing Authority officials said Monday that they had placed 1,000 people – about 300 families – in public housing.
Workers with the Interfaith Housing Coalition were rushing to prepare several Old East Dallas transitional housing units and had placed more than 25 families in homes since Sunday. The agency had more than 1,000 evacuees awaiting housing Monday afternoon.
"We definitely have more intake than we have property units available," said case manager David Estrada.
In Wylie, a city of 30,000 in Collin County, the city shelter was sleeping 88, and officials were struggling to reunite a 15-year-old boy disconnected from his parents.
The First Baptist Church in Keller in Tarrant County had 128 evacuees by midafternoon Sunday. A yellow sign hung on a door that read "Welcome to Keller." A makeshift clinic screened evacuees with conditions ranging from asthma to diabetes. One man was not aware that he had suffered a minor gunshot wound inside the Superdome.
"It's like a little city within a church," said Ed Nelson, the church's business administrator.
In McKinney, the city, businesses and volunteers combined to transform a former Wal-Mart from vacant space to a shelter, complete with showers, meals, first aid and bedding for 250, in less than 72 hours. The building had been scheduled to be demolished this month.
By Labor Day, most shelters were still juggling a deluge of volunteers and donations, while enrolling students in area schools and trying to assist evacuees as they start to focus on the future.
At Mr. Brister's church, doctors from Charlton Methodist Hospital were planning to visit the gymnasium so evacuees would not have to come to emergency rooms.
Medical problems there included a spider bite, dehydration and ringworm. A pregnant woman was taken for prenatal care, and another woman who had fainted while waiting to be rescued at the Superdome was still complaining of a headache.
Praise for churches
In an address Monday, President Bush visited a Baton Rouge, La., church and noted the help provided by churches, synagogues and mosques. He singled out T.D. Jakes for the relief work of his Dallas church, The Potter's House, which has a predominantly black congregation.
The Rev. Tyrone Gordon of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church said African-American congregations feel a bond with the mostly black evacuees. Cars were parked bumper to bumper Monday afternoon, and volunteers worked shoulder to shoulder to organize the constant flow of supplies and services. Every day, more than 100 evacuees have stopped by the church's community center on East Grand Avenue for food, clothing, toiletries and housing assistance.
"Just being African-American, there are cultural ties," Mr. Gordon said. "Most that were affected were African-Americans. Many others had the means to get their needs met."
Starting to look ahead
No matter where they're staying, evacuees are starting to shift gears as they accept the reality that they will not be going home soon. Walter Brooks, a 50-year-old cook at New Orleans' famous Antoine's restaurant, contemplated a new life in Dallas and started looking for more permanent housing.
Mr. Brooks spent two days inside the Superdome and 16 hours outside the stadium waiting on a bus that dropped him off in Dallas on Saturday night. He registered at the convention center but came straight to the Quality Inn on Market Center Boulevard, where the hotel's owners have turned over almost the entire 265-unit hotel to evacuees.
The hotel lobby has become an impromptu clearinghouse of aid services. Evacuees can use a bank of computers to register with FEMA. Ballrooms are full of donated clothes, food and supplies. Another area of the lobby is devoted to finding permanent housing and jobs. In another room, stylists have given more than 200 haircuts.
Help for 800
Hotel director Dave Peterson estimates he's helped more than 800 people since evacuees started showing up more than a week ago. He stopped charging those unable to pay. By Monday afternoon, the hotel had helped find permanent jobs for more than 50 people and long-term housing for 27 families.
So far, the effort has been pulled off without help from local or federal authorities, Mr. Peterson said.
"This is all private," he said. "There's nothing here that wasn't brought to us by an individual."
Staff writers Jim Getz, Emily Ramshaw, Ernesto Londoño, Marissa Alanis and Holly Yan contributed to this report.
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Thousands of unused cots were stacked high at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center on Monday as churches, suburban cities and individuals chipped in to defuse the crush of dispossessed.
Already, far more evacuees are living in an assortment of smaller shelters and hotels or doubled up with relatives than in the cavernous downtown Dallas relief centers.
Downtown volunteers served Sunday dinner to about 10,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees, but at bedtime at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center fewer than 1,800 of the approximately 8,200 prepared beds were occupied.
Reunion Arena remains the bureaucratic center for evacuees, perhaps skewing the prediction that Dallas would need to house more than 8,000 evacuees, said Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm. On Saturday, Mayor Laura Miller alerted federal emergency officials that the city could take no more.
"It's amazing to me that individuals have reached out and not waited for the bureaucracy," Ms. Suhm said. "What I'm worried about is help two to three weeks from now."
14,200 registered
Louisiana residents who escaped to Dallas before the storm are now coming to Reunion Arena to register and receive distinctive green or pink wristbands that identify them as evacuees. By Monday, the registration list had exceeded 14,200 names. Authorities do not have a system to track where evacuees are staying after they register.
The latest visitors to Dallas have scattered in many directions.
John Johnson, a 56-year-old New Orleans native, has been living with relatives in North Dallas for more than a week. Nine people are sharing a two-bedroom apartment. He did not register at Reunion Arena until seven days after he arrived.
"Myself, I'd stay," said the hotel worker who owns a home in uptown New Orleans. "But my wife, she wants to go back home."
Many are going from dense urban housing in New Orleans to North Texas suburbs. Thirty-six people traveling in three cars showed up at the First Baptist Church of Duncanville, quickly followed by a busload of 50 from the Superdome, said the Rev. Keith Brister.
Like shelters everywhere, the number is fluctuating as fragmented families reunite and others move into longer-term housing.
"They leave and come every hour," Mr. Brister said, noting that the church got a call at 2 a.m. asking if it had space for 100. "We're trying to assess who's here to stay and who's heading out."
Public housing efforts
Dallas Housing Authority officials said Monday that they had placed 1,000 people – about 300 families – in public housing.
Workers with the Interfaith Housing Coalition were rushing to prepare several Old East Dallas transitional housing units and had placed more than 25 families in homes since Sunday. The agency had more than 1,000 evacuees awaiting housing Monday afternoon.
"We definitely have more intake than we have property units available," said case manager David Estrada.
In Wylie, a city of 30,000 in Collin County, the city shelter was sleeping 88, and officials were struggling to reunite a 15-year-old boy disconnected from his parents.
The First Baptist Church in Keller in Tarrant County had 128 evacuees by midafternoon Sunday. A yellow sign hung on a door that read "Welcome to Keller." A makeshift clinic screened evacuees with conditions ranging from asthma to diabetes. One man was not aware that he had suffered a minor gunshot wound inside the Superdome.
"It's like a little city within a church," said Ed Nelson, the church's business administrator.
In McKinney, the city, businesses and volunteers combined to transform a former Wal-Mart from vacant space to a shelter, complete with showers, meals, first aid and bedding for 250, in less than 72 hours. The building had been scheduled to be demolished this month.
By Labor Day, most shelters were still juggling a deluge of volunteers and donations, while enrolling students in area schools and trying to assist evacuees as they start to focus on the future.
At Mr. Brister's church, doctors from Charlton Methodist Hospital were planning to visit the gymnasium so evacuees would not have to come to emergency rooms.
Medical problems there included a spider bite, dehydration and ringworm. A pregnant woman was taken for prenatal care, and another woman who had fainted while waiting to be rescued at the Superdome was still complaining of a headache.
Praise for churches
In an address Monday, President Bush visited a Baton Rouge, La., church and noted the help provided by churches, synagogues and mosques. He singled out T.D. Jakes for the relief work of his Dallas church, The Potter's House, which has a predominantly black congregation.
The Rev. Tyrone Gordon of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church said African-American congregations feel a bond with the mostly black evacuees. Cars were parked bumper to bumper Monday afternoon, and volunteers worked shoulder to shoulder to organize the constant flow of supplies and services. Every day, more than 100 evacuees have stopped by the church's community center on East Grand Avenue for food, clothing, toiletries and housing assistance.
"Just being African-American, there are cultural ties," Mr. Gordon said. "Most that were affected were African-Americans. Many others had the means to get their needs met."
Starting to look ahead
No matter where they're staying, evacuees are starting to shift gears as they accept the reality that they will not be going home soon. Walter Brooks, a 50-year-old cook at New Orleans' famous Antoine's restaurant, contemplated a new life in Dallas and started looking for more permanent housing.
Mr. Brooks spent two days inside the Superdome and 16 hours outside the stadium waiting on a bus that dropped him off in Dallas on Saturday night. He registered at the convention center but came straight to the Quality Inn on Market Center Boulevard, where the hotel's owners have turned over almost the entire 265-unit hotel to evacuees.
The hotel lobby has become an impromptu clearinghouse of aid services. Evacuees can use a bank of computers to register with FEMA. Ballrooms are full of donated clothes, food and supplies. Another area of the lobby is devoted to finding permanent housing and jobs. In another room, stylists have given more than 200 haircuts.
Help for 800
Hotel director Dave Peterson estimates he's helped more than 800 people since evacuees started showing up more than a week ago. He stopped charging those unable to pay. By Monday afternoon, the hotel had helped find permanent jobs for more than 50 people and long-term housing for 27 families.
So far, the effort has been pulled off without help from local or federal authorities, Mr. Peterson said.
"This is all private," he said. "There's nothing here that wasn't brought to us by an individual."
Staff writers Jim Getz, Emily Ramshaw, Ernesto Londoño, Marissa Alanis and Holly Yan contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
For evacuees, it's back to the books
Dallas ISD: Schools expect 500 displaced kids to start classes today
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas school officials scrambled over the weekend to make room for at least 500 hurricane evacuees who are expected to start classes Tuesday.
"We will take as many as there are," said Dallas Independent School District Associate Superintendent Rosemarie Allen, who spent Labor Day overseeing the registration at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center, the city's main shelters for evacuees. "Getting students to resume a normal routine is what we're interested in."
The storm-weary kids and their parents won't have to worry about immunization records and uniforms for a few days because state and school officials decided to temporarily waive the requirements.
School officials said Monday that they will take displaced Gulf Coast parents to see the schools and meet the teachers this morning. School buses were expected to pick up parents and kids at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center.
The school district's quick response took parent Melissa Farria by surprise. After all, the 30-year-old mother of three had barely been in Dallas two days after a horrific week in devastated New Orleans.
"These people are amazing," Ms. Farria said Monday afternoon after preregistering her kids for school at the Dallas Convention Center, temporary home to roughly 1,600 storm victims. "When they were saying they were registering students, I couldn't believe it."
Ms. Farria, who worked for the city of New Orleans until last week, said having her kids back in school would allow her to focus on finding a job and a place to call home.
School officials said they will enroll students at Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School; Pearl C. Anderson Learning Center, a middle school; and Madison High School. The schools were selected for their proximity to the shelters and their occupancy level, Ms. Allen said. The school district has roughly 158,000 students, and several of its campuses are filled to capacity.
Ms. Allen said it is too early to tell how many students the district will absorb. She said as evacuees begin finding new homes, some students will move to neighboring school districts. She said the district expects to be reimbursed by the federal government for evacuee-related expenses.
DISD spokesman Donny Claxton said the district welcomes donations to provide uniforms and school supplies.
"We are handling this as quickly as we can," Mr. Claxton said. "We are looking for help from the community."
Evacuees who are in Dallas and wish to inquire about registering their kids in school may call the district at 972-925-5555 or visit http://www.dallasisd.org.
Dallas ISD: Schools expect 500 displaced kids to start classes today
By ERNESTO LONDOÑO / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas school officials scrambled over the weekend to make room for at least 500 hurricane evacuees who are expected to start classes Tuesday.
"We will take as many as there are," said Dallas Independent School District Associate Superintendent Rosemarie Allen, who spent Labor Day overseeing the registration at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center, the city's main shelters for evacuees. "Getting students to resume a normal routine is what we're interested in."
The storm-weary kids and their parents won't have to worry about immunization records and uniforms for a few days because state and school officials decided to temporarily waive the requirements.
School officials said Monday that they will take displaced Gulf Coast parents to see the schools and meet the teachers this morning. School buses were expected to pick up parents and kids at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center.
The school district's quick response took parent Melissa Farria by surprise. After all, the 30-year-old mother of three had barely been in Dallas two days after a horrific week in devastated New Orleans.
"These people are amazing," Ms. Farria said Monday afternoon after preregistering her kids for school at the Dallas Convention Center, temporary home to roughly 1,600 storm victims. "When they were saying they were registering students, I couldn't believe it."
Ms. Farria, who worked for the city of New Orleans until last week, said having her kids back in school would allow her to focus on finding a job and a place to call home.
School officials said they will enroll students at Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School; Pearl C. Anderson Learning Center, a middle school; and Madison High School. The schools were selected for their proximity to the shelters and their occupancy level, Ms. Allen said. The school district has roughly 158,000 students, and several of its campuses are filled to capacity.
Ms. Allen said it is too early to tell how many students the district will absorb. She said as evacuees begin finding new homes, some students will move to neighboring school districts. She said the district expects to be reimbursed by the federal government for evacuee-related expenses.
DISD spokesman Donny Claxton said the district welcomes donations to provide uniforms and school supplies.
"We are handling this as quickly as we can," Mr. Claxton said. "We are looking for help from the community."
Evacuees who are in Dallas and wish to inquire about registering their kids in school may call the district at 972-925-5555 or visit http://www.dallasisd.org.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Dallas Morning News offers free classifieds
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - The Dallas Morning News will offer free four-line 10-day classified advertisements for businesses and individuals offering free goods or services to evacuees from areas struck by Hurricane Katrina.
The classified advertising department can be reached at 214-745-8123. The newspaper also has arranged for six of its Job Center kiosks to be placed at area evacuee shelters, including Reunion Arena.
The kiosks allow job seekers to access every job listing from the Sunday classified advertisements and apply directly to potential employers.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - The Dallas Morning News will offer free four-line 10-day classified advertisements for businesses and individuals offering free goods or services to evacuees from areas struck by Hurricane Katrina.
The classified advertising department can be reached at 214-745-8123. The newspaper also has arranged for six of its Job Center kiosks to be placed at area evacuee shelters, including Reunion Arena.
The kiosks allow job seekers to access every job listing from the Sunday classified advertisements and apply directly to potential employers.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Evacuees begin search for jobs
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Many evacuees who fled New Orleans are ready to start a new life in North Texas and getting that life underway begins with finding a job.
Some of the storm evacuees at shelters said as they begin to feel better they are ready to start that hunt. In fact, some have already landed jobs.
Dennis Jones said he will stay in North Texas and has already found a job as a cook at a Plano restaurant.
"I got a family to take care of you know," he said. "And we don't have anything now, so I have to do what I have to do to survive for my family."
At a Mesquite hotel, Esdondalita Hooper and Kernell Slack have jobs as young parents and need employment to support their young family. Judy Gaddis stepped up to be their guardian angel - helping them with transportation, housing and their search for work.
"They're getting going," she said. "They want to move on. A lot of them are coming to the realization that they're going to be here."
So Hooper, who was a 911 operator for the New Orleans police, and Slack, who worked at a downtown hotel setting up exhibits and trade shows, have set out to look for jobs. Tuesday that search led Hooper to Mesquite City Hall where she applied for an open 911 operator position.
"It doesn't make any sense to, you know, be lying around doing nothing," she said. "We want to try to find a job and get back on track."
Slack said he needs to confirm if he still has a job in New Orleans, but plan to look for a job anyway.
"I think the best option would be to start looking in case I don't have anything when I get back," he said.
Many storm evacuees will get a better picture of jobs available at a job fair at the Dallas Convention Center Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sponsored by WorkSource of Dallas County, the job fair is open to anyone looking for work
Evacuees looking for jobs are also invited to the DFW Career Conference Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Arlington Convention Center. Parking and admission is free and shuttles will take evacuees from all North Texas shelters.
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - Many evacuees who fled New Orleans are ready to start a new life in North Texas and getting that life underway begins with finding a job.
Some of the storm evacuees at shelters said as they begin to feel better they are ready to start that hunt. In fact, some have already landed jobs.
Dennis Jones said he will stay in North Texas and has already found a job as a cook at a Plano restaurant.
"I got a family to take care of you know," he said. "And we don't have anything now, so I have to do what I have to do to survive for my family."
At a Mesquite hotel, Esdondalita Hooper and Kernell Slack have jobs as young parents and need employment to support their young family. Judy Gaddis stepped up to be their guardian angel - helping them with transportation, housing and their search for work.
"They're getting going," she said. "They want to move on. A lot of them are coming to the realization that they're going to be here."
So Hooper, who was a 911 operator for the New Orleans police, and Slack, who worked at a downtown hotel setting up exhibits and trade shows, have set out to look for jobs. Tuesday that search led Hooper to Mesquite City Hall where she applied for an open 911 operator position.
"It doesn't make any sense to, you know, be lying around doing nothing," she said. "We want to try to find a job and get back on track."
Slack said he needs to confirm if he still has a job in New Orleans, but plan to look for a job anyway.
"I think the best option would be to start looking in case I don't have anything when I get back," he said.
Many storm evacuees will get a better picture of jobs available at a job fair at the Dallas Convention Center Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sponsored by WorkSource of Dallas County, the job fair is open to anyone looking for work
Evacuees looking for jobs are also invited to the DFW Career Conference Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Arlington Convention Center. Parking and admission is free and shuttles will take evacuees from all North Texas shelters.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
DART offers passes to Hurricane Katrina evacuees
DALLAS, Texas (DART News Release) - Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is participating in local relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina evacuees by providing local bus and rail passes to those staying at the Reunion Arena shelter.
The passes are good for two weeks. They can be extended for an additional two-week period. DART will continue to monitor the recovery situation and make additional decisions as needed.
With the passes evacuees will have access to local DART buses, all of the DART Rail System and the Trinity Railway Express up to West Irving Station. DART Customer Service staff is available to help them plan a trip. Customer Service may be reached by calling 214-979-1111. DART also has a special page for evacuees on its website, www.DART.org. The information is located on the top right corner of the home page.
These transit services connect them to grocery and clothes shopping, community services, healthcare and even entertainment destinations like movie theaters and the Dallas Zoo. The passes are part of a support effort that began August 31 as DART provided buses to transport people to Reunion Arena. At the same time, DART employees continue collecting goods and cash and working with area organizations that are responding to those in need.
DALLAS, Texas (DART News Release) - Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is participating in local relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina evacuees by providing local bus and rail passes to those staying at the Reunion Arena shelter.
The passes are good for two weeks. They can be extended for an additional two-week period. DART will continue to monitor the recovery situation and make additional decisions as needed.
With the passes evacuees will have access to local DART buses, all of the DART Rail System and the Trinity Railway Express up to West Irving Station. DART Customer Service staff is available to help them plan a trip. Customer Service may be reached by calling 214-979-1111. DART also has a special page for evacuees on its website, www.DART.org. The information is located on the top right corner of the home page.
These transit services connect them to grocery and clothes shopping, community services, healthcare and even entertainment destinations like movie theaters and the Dallas Zoo. The passes are part of a support effort that began August 31 as DART provided buses to transport people to Reunion Arena. At the same time, DART employees continue collecting goods and cash and working with area organizations that are responding to those in need.
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southerngale
- Retired Staff
- Posts: 27418
- Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 1:27 am
- Location: Southeast Texas (Beaumont area)
Information, Phone Numbers for Hurricane Evacuees
On Thursday, September 8th, Ford Park will process all evacuees from Hardin County shelters from 9 to 11 a.m. They will be able to make contact with a variety of federal, state, and local social services. Those staying in hotels/motels/private homes are to be processed beginning at 1 p.m. Because of extreme overcrowding, evacuees coming to the arena before their scheduled times cannot be let into the facility and will be required to wait outside until that time.
Weather conditions are not ideal for waiting outside for extended periods of time and evacuees are encouraged to follow this schedule.
Some Other Place is offering free clothing to hurricane evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Some proof of residency is required. The distribution point is the Miriam Rogers Community Center at 2340 McFaddin in Beaumont. Hours of operation are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Clothing is available for men, women, girls, boys, and infants. Each person will receive 3-5 outfits, including socks and underwear.
The Salvation Army needs volunteers with large commercial trucks to transport donated goods from facility to facility within Jefferson County. Forklifts and other heavy lifting equipment are also needed. Businesses or individuals who can help with trucks and drivers can contact Captain Dan Ford or Dawn Coats at (409)896-2361. The Salvation Army will provide volunteers to assist with loading and unloading.
The American Red Cross has set up a hotline to search for information about a loved one, or to report information about yourself or another individual affected by the hurricane.
The number is 1-877-LOVED-1-S.
You can also log on to http://www.redcross.org
To have mail re-routed, call 1-800-ASK-USPS to give the address of where you are staying. You can also list the address of the shelter you are staying at. You can also log onto http://www.usps.com.
Louisiana Homeland Security website. http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov.
Triage Phone Numbers:
Alexandria: 800-841-5778 Shreveport: 800-841-5776
Baton Rouge: 800-349-1372 Monroe: 866-280-7287
Houma/Thibodaux: 800-228-9409 Slidell/Hammond: 866-280-7724
Lafayette: 800-901-3210 Lake Charles: 866-280-2711
Goodwill has an office at Ford Park. Goodwill is ascertaining the clothing needs of those evacuees at Ford Park. Goodwill ask that clothing donations be brought to Goodwill stores (not donation stations) where the needs of the evacuees will be matched with the donations and the clothing will then be delivered to Ford Park.
Goodwill is also asking businesses or individuals who have a need for temporary workers to call Goodwill at 838-9911. A list of available jobs will then be co-ordinated with evacuees needing temporary employment.
To begin assistance through FEMA call 1-800-621-FEMA or http://www.fema.gov.
For information out of New Orleans and surrounding areas log on to http://www.wwltv.com. For a live feed from WWL-TV go to Channel 21. Also check out http://www.nola.com for up to the minutes information. You can also register yourself to let people know where you are and search for missing friends and loved ones.
For information about friends and loved ones who remained in the afflicted areas, call 1-866-GET-INFO (1-866-438-4636) or http://www.redcross.org.
For information on road conditions in Louisiana call 1-800-469-4828. Please do not call the LSP "Roadway Closure Hotline" that number has been reassigned as a '911' line and needs to remain available for emergencies. Interstate 10 East is closed east Baton Rouge, take a northern route if travelling that direction.
Evacuees who receive Social Security benefits through the mail can call the Beaumont Social Security office at 924-6413 and a replacement check can be issued. Direct deposit funds will be deposited normally for evacuees.
To report price gouging call the Texas Attorney General's Office at 1-800-337-3928.
To make donations:
--Call the American Red Cross at 1-800-HELP-NOW. If the line is busy, please call back.
--For victims needing assistance call the Salvation Army at 1-800-725-2769.
--The Southeast Texas Relief Fund PO BOX 7888, Beaumont, Tx, 77726
--Catholic Charities, USA - (800)919-9338
--United Methodist Committee On Relief - (800)554-8583
Volunteers have organized a drop-off point in Hull for those Hull-Daisetta residents wishing to
donate items to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Volunteers will be collecting food, water, clothing, paper plates, plastic dinner ware, diapers,
baby food, personal hygiene products and virtually anything that may be of use to the hurricane
survivors. The drop-off point is located on FM Hwy 834 in Hull at the old Johnston's Grocery store
just north of Hull Hardware, (traveling north on 834 it's the second building on the right past CR
2414). Please contact Tommie Taylor or Ann Richardson at 936-536-6695 for more information.
Preparations are being made for cash donations as well.
The LA National Guard Office of Family Programs wants to account for all displaced National Guard families.
Families of deployed and activated Soldiers and Airmen need to call and register their location and contact information. Deployed Servicemembers will also be able to call and get status on their families.
Numbers to call to register:
National Guard Bureau hotline 1-888-777-7731
LA National Guard Office of Family Programs hotline -
866-647-3617, 318-647-5429 or 5428
fax: 318-641-3341 (include Service member's name and unit)
e-mail: lida.eichenauer@us.army.mil or bridget.anne.stuckey@us.army.mil
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BEAUMONT TX --- September 6, 2005
We at Mannings School Supply would like our friends and neighbors to know that
we are placing drop boxes at the following locations for badly needed school supplies.
These items will be distributed through Region V for the students that are relocating
to our area due to Hurricane Katrina. Region V services all local school districts and
can reach every student that has enrolled in Jefferson, Hardin, Orange, Jasper, Tyler, and Newton counties. All materials that are not used by our students will be sent on to
Region III and Region IV.
Drop Box Locations:
Mannings School Supply
4144 Dowlen Road 3704 Highway 365
Beaumont, TX Nederland, TX
Beaumont Area Educators Federal Credit Union
7025 Eastex Frwy 4695 Rolfe Christopher
Beaumont, TX Beaumont, TX
M & D Supply
4580 College 122 S. Main St. 1230 N. Main St.
Beaumont, TX Lumberton, TX Vidor, TX
Parkdale Mall
Customer Service Area
Our manufacturers have also been contacted and are working on getting supplies to our area.
So far we have contacted and heard back from the following manufacturers:
Sanford Corporation Fiskars Manufacturing
Binney & Smith (Crayola) Mead Corporation
Charles Leonard Inc. Pacon Corporation
Elmer’s Products (Elmers Glue) Bic Corporation
Scholastic Publishing A & W Products, Inc.
Top Flight Inc.
Each day the enrollment for these students increase. At this point in time we have over
1200 students enrolled in Southeast Texas schools.
The need for these supplies is immediate and donations by groups and individuals
are appreciated.
Thank you for your efforts,
Richard Creason
Mannings School Supply
For more information, please call Stacie Cooper @ Mannings School Supply 899-1122 or 800-392-5888
If you would like to donate furniture to help evacuees in Port Arthur, you can drop it off Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gulf Breeze Apartment Complex at 5300 Gulfway Drive.
If you have any questions call (409)983-1694, or (409)540-0938 for after-hours drop offs.
On Thursday, September 8th, Ford Park will process all evacuees from Hardin County shelters from 9 to 11 a.m. They will be able to make contact with a variety of federal, state, and local social services. Those staying in hotels/motels/private homes are to be processed beginning at 1 p.m. Because of extreme overcrowding, evacuees coming to the arena before their scheduled times cannot be let into the facility and will be required to wait outside until that time.
Weather conditions are not ideal for waiting outside for extended periods of time and evacuees are encouraged to follow this schedule.
Some Other Place is offering free clothing to hurricane evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Some proof of residency is required. The distribution point is the Miriam Rogers Community Center at 2340 McFaddin in Beaumont. Hours of operation are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Clothing is available for men, women, girls, boys, and infants. Each person will receive 3-5 outfits, including socks and underwear.
The Salvation Army needs volunteers with large commercial trucks to transport donated goods from facility to facility within Jefferson County. Forklifts and other heavy lifting equipment are also needed. Businesses or individuals who can help with trucks and drivers can contact Captain Dan Ford or Dawn Coats at (409)896-2361. The Salvation Army will provide volunteers to assist with loading and unloading.
The American Red Cross has set up a hotline to search for information about a loved one, or to report information about yourself or another individual affected by the hurricane.
The number is 1-877-LOVED-1-S.
You can also log on to http://www.redcross.org
To have mail re-routed, call 1-800-ASK-USPS to give the address of where you are staying. You can also list the address of the shelter you are staying at. You can also log onto http://www.usps.com.
Louisiana Homeland Security website. http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov.
Triage Phone Numbers:
Alexandria: 800-841-5778 Shreveport: 800-841-5776
Baton Rouge: 800-349-1372 Monroe: 866-280-7287
Houma/Thibodaux: 800-228-9409 Slidell/Hammond: 866-280-7724
Lafayette: 800-901-3210 Lake Charles: 866-280-2711
Goodwill has an office at Ford Park. Goodwill is ascertaining the clothing needs of those evacuees at Ford Park. Goodwill ask that clothing donations be brought to Goodwill stores (not donation stations) where the needs of the evacuees will be matched with the donations and the clothing will then be delivered to Ford Park.
Goodwill is also asking businesses or individuals who have a need for temporary workers to call Goodwill at 838-9911. A list of available jobs will then be co-ordinated with evacuees needing temporary employment.
To begin assistance through FEMA call 1-800-621-FEMA or http://www.fema.gov.
For information out of New Orleans and surrounding areas log on to http://www.wwltv.com. For a live feed from WWL-TV go to Channel 21. Also check out http://www.nola.com for up to the minutes information. You can also register yourself to let people know where you are and search for missing friends and loved ones.
For information about friends and loved ones who remained in the afflicted areas, call 1-866-GET-INFO (1-866-438-4636) or http://www.redcross.org.
For information on road conditions in Louisiana call 1-800-469-4828. Please do not call the LSP "Roadway Closure Hotline" that number has been reassigned as a '911' line and needs to remain available for emergencies. Interstate 10 East is closed east Baton Rouge, take a northern route if travelling that direction.
Evacuees who receive Social Security benefits through the mail can call the Beaumont Social Security office at 924-6413 and a replacement check can be issued. Direct deposit funds will be deposited normally for evacuees.
To report price gouging call the Texas Attorney General's Office at 1-800-337-3928.
To make donations:
--Call the American Red Cross at 1-800-HELP-NOW. If the line is busy, please call back.
--For victims needing assistance call the Salvation Army at 1-800-725-2769.
--The Southeast Texas Relief Fund PO BOX 7888, Beaumont, Tx, 77726
--Catholic Charities, USA - (800)919-9338
--United Methodist Committee On Relief - (800)554-8583
Volunteers have organized a drop-off point in Hull for those Hull-Daisetta residents wishing to
donate items to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Volunteers will be collecting food, water, clothing, paper plates, plastic dinner ware, diapers,
baby food, personal hygiene products and virtually anything that may be of use to the hurricane
survivors. The drop-off point is located on FM Hwy 834 in Hull at the old Johnston's Grocery store
just north of Hull Hardware, (traveling north on 834 it's the second building on the right past CR
2414). Please contact Tommie Taylor or Ann Richardson at 936-536-6695 for more information.
Preparations are being made for cash donations as well.
The LA National Guard Office of Family Programs wants to account for all displaced National Guard families.
Families of deployed and activated Soldiers and Airmen need to call and register their location and contact information. Deployed Servicemembers will also be able to call and get status on their families.
Numbers to call to register:
National Guard Bureau hotline 1-888-777-7731
LA National Guard Office of Family Programs hotline -
866-647-3617, 318-647-5429 or 5428
fax: 318-641-3341 (include Service member's name and unit)
e-mail: lida.eichenauer@us.army.mil or bridget.anne.stuckey@us.army.mil
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BEAUMONT TX --- September 6, 2005
We at Mannings School Supply would like our friends and neighbors to know that
we are placing drop boxes at the following locations for badly needed school supplies.
These items will be distributed through Region V for the students that are relocating
to our area due to Hurricane Katrina. Region V services all local school districts and
can reach every student that has enrolled in Jefferson, Hardin, Orange, Jasper, Tyler, and Newton counties. All materials that are not used by our students will be sent on to
Region III and Region IV.
Drop Box Locations:
Mannings School Supply
4144 Dowlen Road 3704 Highway 365
Beaumont, TX Nederland, TX
Beaumont Area Educators Federal Credit Union
7025 Eastex Frwy 4695 Rolfe Christopher
Beaumont, TX Beaumont, TX
M & D Supply
4580 College 122 S. Main St. 1230 N. Main St.
Beaumont, TX Lumberton, TX Vidor, TX
Parkdale Mall
Customer Service Area
Our manufacturers have also been contacted and are working on getting supplies to our area.
So far we have contacted and heard back from the following manufacturers:
Sanford Corporation Fiskars Manufacturing
Binney & Smith (Crayola) Mead Corporation
Charles Leonard Inc. Pacon Corporation
Elmer’s Products (Elmers Glue) Bic Corporation
Scholastic Publishing A & W Products, Inc.
Top Flight Inc.
Each day the enrollment for these students increase. At this point in time we have over
1200 students enrolled in Southeast Texas schools.
The need for these supplies is immediate and donations by groups and individuals
are appreciated.
Thank you for your efforts,
Richard Creason
Mannings School Supply
For more information, please call Stacie Cooper @ Mannings School Supply 899-1122 or 800-392-5888
If you would like to donate furniture to help evacuees in Port Arthur, you can drop it off Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gulf Breeze Apartment Complex at 5300 Gulfway Drive.
If you have any questions call (409)983-1694, or (409)540-0938 for after-hours drop offs.
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
College students try to catch up in Texas
Hundreds displaced by storm head to class at new campuses
By HOLLY HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON, Texas - Well into the fall semester, colleges across Texas continued Wednesday to enroll students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
About 100 college students from New Orleans-area schools enrolled at the University of Texas at Arlington in a special registration that helped with everything from housing to financial aid to class signups.
"This is a little overwhelming. We don't know anybody, so we've got to start over," said Allison Moret, who was at Dillard University in New Orleans until last week. She left with her family and moved in with her aunt in Cedar Hill.
Both schools and students had to be flexible in admissions and registration – processes usually driven by details, deadlines and documents.
Many students came without transcripts or financial aid forms. Most Texas colleges have been in session for two or three weeks, so new students will have to catch up to their classmates.
They've already paid tuition at another school or are on scholarships that don't transfer to a new campus.
Andrew Katz, a graduate of Jesuit High School in Dallas, was headed to Tulane with a scholarship. He had to leave Tulane – and his scholarship.
Now he's at Texas A&M University, where he and his father must pay $8,000 in tuition, room and board.
"Our losses are trivial compared to the suffering of humanity going on, but we are concerned about how to pay a second time," said Andrew's father, Shelly Katz.
Colleges say they're doing their best to absorb the extra students.
"Since school has already started, our president wanted to get these students in class as soon as possible, so we've thrown out the rules," said Bob Wright, a UTA spokesman. The campus expects to enroll close to 350 students.
The hurricane and flooding forced several campuses to close, including Dillard University, Loyola University of New Orleans, Southern University of New Orleans, Tulane University, the University of New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana. Some colleges have said they won't reopen until spring semester, while others hope to reopen sooner.
The University of Houston System has enrolled about 850 students displaced by the hurricane, and officials predict that number to grow to 1,000. Texas Southern University, also in Houston, has enrolled about 400 displaced students.
Closer to home, Southern Methodist University has added more than 160 evacuated students to its rolls, mostly from Loyola, Xavier and Tulane. Texas Wesleyan University reports about 60 new students after the hurricane. The University of Dallas enrolled 20 displaced students.
"We tried to treat them specially because we know they're going through a tough patch here," said James Klassen, UD assistant provost.
Texas schools also want to make sure that students catch up academically. The University of Texas at Dallas is pairing its 87 newcomers with students who can share class notes.At UTA, Ms. Moret said she figures that she can't do much about missing the first few weeks of class but that things could be a lot worse.
"I have my family out here," she said, "so I have all I really need."
Hundreds displaced by storm head to class at new campuses
By HOLLY HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON, Texas - Well into the fall semester, colleges across Texas continued Wednesday to enroll students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
About 100 college students from New Orleans-area schools enrolled at the University of Texas at Arlington in a special registration that helped with everything from housing to financial aid to class signups.
"This is a little overwhelming. We don't know anybody, so we've got to start over," said Allison Moret, who was at Dillard University in New Orleans until last week. She left with her family and moved in with her aunt in Cedar Hill.
Both schools and students had to be flexible in admissions and registration – processes usually driven by details, deadlines and documents.
Many students came without transcripts or financial aid forms. Most Texas colleges have been in session for two or three weeks, so new students will have to catch up to their classmates.
They've already paid tuition at another school or are on scholarships that don't transfer to a new campus.
Andrew Katz, a graduate of Jesuit High School in Dallas, was headed to Tulane with a scholarship. He had to leave Tulane – and his scholarship.
Now he's at Texas A&M University, where he and his father must pay $8,000 in tuition, room and board.
"Our losses are trivial compared to the suffering of humanity going on, but we are concerned about how to pay a second time," said Andrew's father, Shelly Katz.
Colleges say they're doing their best to absorb the extra students.
"Since school has already started, our president wanted to get these students in class as soon as possible, so we've thrown out the rules," said Bob Wright, a UTA spokesman. The campus expects to enroll close to 350 students.
The hurricane and flooding forced several campuses to close, including Dillard University, Loyola University of New Orleans, Southern University of New Orleans, Tulane University, the University of New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana. Some colleges have said they won't reopen until spring semester, while others hope to reopen sooner.
The University of Houston System has enrolled about 850 students displaced by the hurricane, and officials predict that number to grow to 1,000. Texas Southern University, also in Houston, has enrolled about 400 displaced students.
Closer to home, Southern Methodist University has added more than 160 evacuated students to its rolls, mostly from Loyola, Xavier and Tulane. Texas Wesleyan University reports about 60 new students after the hurricane. The University of Dallas enrolled 20 displaced students.
"We tried to treat them specially because we know they're going through a tough patch here," said James Klassen, UD assistant provost.
Texas schools also want to make sure that students catch up academically. The University of Texas at Dallas is pairing its 87 newcomers with students who can share class notes.At UTA, Ms. Moret said she figures that she can't do much about missing the first few weeks of class but that things could be a lot worse.
"I have my family out here," she said, "so I have all I really need."
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
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SPCA finds foster parents for evacuees' pets
By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Moose pawed at her leg and Roscoe ran in frantic circles. Amid the commotion, hurricane evacuee Christine Borrello laughed as she balanced Bean, a fidgety Chihuahua, on her lap.
The light moment while checking in on her pets put Mrs. Borrello in a better mood than a few moments earlier, when her eyes welled with tears as she described her family's flight from Chalmette, La., just outside of New Orleans.
Just before Hurricane Katrina hit, Mrs. Borrello, 29, her husband, Peter, 32, and their 4-month-old son, Max, piled into their Ford Explorer with Bean, Roscoe the German shepherd mix, and Moose the poodle. They began a long trek that would eventually land them, and about a dozen other relatives, with Mrs. Borrello's aunt in Frisco.
There wasn't room for their pets, and one of their relatives is allergic to dogs, so they had to shelter them somewhere else. They couldn't afford the monthly $1,500 to board them with a veterinarian in Frisco. So they turned to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
They were just looking for the names of other shelters and were pleasantly surprised to find out that the SPCA of Texas would find them a foster pet parent who would care for their canine trio for free.
"They're spoiled at home, and I can't imagine them being in cages for that long," Mrs. Borrello said. "We're so grateful we'll have a family to take them in."
Their pets are among 180 that the Dallas-based SPCA of Texas has already accepted as a result of Hurricane Katrina:
•98 pets came from shelters in Louisiana and Houston to make room for evacuee pets down there.
•70 pets have gone to foster homes in the Dallas area until their owners can take them back.
•12 pets that had belonged to evacuees were put up for adoption after the owners said they couldn't care for them anymore.
The SPCA groups are doing all they can to keep animals close to their owners, said James Bias, president of the Dallas-based SPCA of Texas.
"Here were people where the only belongings they had was the shirt on their back and the dog in their hand, and they were so thrilled they had their dog," he said. He described one man who showed up at a rescue bus headed to Houston with a cockatiel in a cage and was told he could not board with the bird, Mr. Bias said.
"He went away, put the bird in a pillowcase and carried it on the bus all the way to the Astrodome," he said.
People weren't allowed to keep their pets with them at the Astrodome, so Houston-area SPCA workers transported them to offsite shelters, he said. In order to make room for displaced pets, the Houston shelters transferred hundreds of their existing animals up for adoption to North Texas.
Reunion Arena in Dallas is letting people stay with their pets, and the SPCA has provided crates to help keep them contained, Mr. Bias said.
If people are staying elsewhere – such as in Red Cross shelters, hotels or private homes – and they need a place for their pets, they can contact the SPCA and someone will retrieve their animal, Mr. Bias said.
People staying in other shelters in the Dallas area have already appealed to the SPCA to temporarily house their pets. Mr. Bias said he expects the numbers to grow as people run out of money and can't care for their animals anymore, or if they have to move somewhere where pets aren't allowed, he said.
The Borrellos say they'll be moving temporarily into a small apartment in Dallas while they wait for their insurance company to process the claim for their house. They guessed it would be at least three months before they'd be able to buy a home.
They've decided to live in the Dallas area. The office supply company Mr. Borrello worked for in New Orleans has given him a job at its Carrollton location. Mrs. Borrello, an intensive care nurse, is interviewing at area hospitals.
"This has been the hardest part – leaving the dogs," Mrs. Borrello said, while she and her husband waited to see Roscoe, Bean and Moose one more time before they went to their foster home.
Not long after the Borrellos left the McKinney shelter, foster pet parent Eilene Mittag showed up to take the pups to their new digs – a 1,600-square-foot apartment off Gaston Avenue in Dallas. She owns three large but "very mellow" dogs. Ms. Mittag, 29, said she visits a nearby dog park with her animals twice a day.
By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Moose pawed at her leg and Roscoe ran in frantic circles. Amid the commotion, hurricane evacuee Christine Borrello laughed as she balanced Bean, a fidgety Chihuahua, on her lap.
The light moment while checking in on her pets put Mrs. Borrello in a better mood than a few moments earlier, when her eyes welled with tears as she described her family's flight from Chalmette, La., just outside of New Orleans.
Just before Hurricane Katrina hit, Mrs. Borrello, 29, her husband, Peter, 32, and their 4-month-old son, Max, piled into their Ford Explorer with Bean, Roscoe the German shepherd mix, and Moose the poodle. They began a long trek that would eventually land them, and about a dozen other relatives, with Mrs. Borrello's aunt in Frisco.
There wasn't room for their pets, and one of their relatives is allergic to dogs, so they had to shelter them somewhere else. They couldn't afford the monthly $1,500 to board them with a veterinarian in Frisco. So they turned to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
They were just looking for the names of other shelters and were pleasantly surprised to find out that the SPCA of Texas would find them a foster pet parent who would care for their canine trio for free.
"They're spoiled at home, and I can't imagine them being in cages for that long," Mrs. Borrello said. "We're so grateful we'll have a family to take them in."
Their pets are among 180 that the Dallas-based SPCA of Texas has already accepted as a result of Hurricane Katrina:
•98 pets came from shelters in Louisiana and Houston to make room for evacuee pets down there.
•70 pets have gone to foster homes in the Dallas area until their owners can take them back.
•12 pets that had belonged to evacuees were put up for adoption after the owners said they couldn't care for them anymore.
The SPCA groups are doing all they can to keep animals close to their owners, said James Bias, president of the Dallas-based SPCA of Texas.
"Here were people where the only belongings they had was the shirt on their back and the dog in their hand, and they were so thrilled they had their dog," he said. He described one man who showed up at a rescue bus headed to Houston with a cockatiel in a cage and was told he could not board with the bird, Mr. Bias said.
"He went away, put the bird in a pillowcase and carried it on the bus all the way to the Astrodome," he said.
People weren't allowed to keep their pets with them at the Astrodome, so Houston-area SPCA workers transported them to offsite shelters, he said. In order to make room for displaced pets, the Houston shelters transferred hundreds of their existing animals up for adoption to North Texas.
Reunion Arena in Dallas is letting people stay with their pets, and the SPCA has provided crates to help keep them contained, Mr. Bias said.
If people are staying elsewhere – such as in Red Cross shelters, hotels or private homes – and they need a place for their pets, they can contact the SPCA and someone will retrieve their animal, Mr. Bias said.
People staying in other shelters in the Dallas area have already appealed to the SPCA to temporarily house their pets. Mr. Bias said he expects the numbers to grow as people run out of money and can't care for their animals anymore, or if they have to move somewhere where pets aren't allowed, he said.
The Borrellos say they'll be moving temporarily into a small apartment in Dallas while they wait for their insurance company to process the claim for their house. They guessed it would be at least three months before they'd be able to buy a home.
They've decided to live in the Dallas area. The office supply company Mr. Borrello worked for in New Orleans has given him a job at its Carrollton location. Mrs. Borrello, an intensive care nurse, is interviewing at area hospitals.
"This has been the hardest part – leaving the dogs," Mrs. Borrello said, while she and her husband waited to see Roscoe, Bean and Moose one more time before they went to their foster home.
Not long after the Borrellos left the McKinney shelter, foster pet parent Eilene Mittag showed up to take the pups to their new digs – a 1,600-square-foot apartment off Gaston Avenue in Dallas. She owns three large but "very mellow" dogs. Ms. Mittag, 29, said she visits a nearby dog park with her animals twice a day.
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TexasStooge
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- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
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Humane Society unleashes love on storm's pet victims
Area group also gears up for expansion fundraising
By EMILY POWELL / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - Debbie Hall lived in Irving for 20 years before she realized the city was also home to the DFW Humane Society.
When a stray cat had kittens near her home, she went looking for a community shelter.
She found a place "with a heart" and spent the next 20 years as a volunteer at the "no kill" shelter.
The DFW Humane Society was established in 1967 to give homeless animals a chance to be placed in a good home and to prevent cruelty.
It houses more than 100 animals at any given time. Last year, it arranged adoption of more than 800 pets.
This week, shelter volunteers and foster-pet guardians are doubling their efforts to assist animals abandoned or in need of temporary homes after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The Humane Society could not accept any abandoned animals itself because it was overcapacity even before the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast.
But it has set aside funds for any shelter that needs assistance in the coming weeks.
The shelter's animals are brought by owners who can no longer care for them or are strays turned in by residents.
Ms. Hall, 57, said she has been bringing in animals for years.
Her four cats were all rescued from the street, and she swears she is marked as a haven for all animals in need.
"A black cat brought me a [live] rabbit," she said. "I get turtles, cats, dogs. I have to keep cat and dog leashes in the car."
Darryn Pope, president of the shelter's board of directors, said a primary goal for the society this year is to raise enough funds to build a bigger shelter, to be called Corky's Cottage. The Humane Society has bought 2.3 acres for a new site but needs $2.4 million for the project itself, $1.5 million of that before breaking ground.
"I wish we'd had the new building" when the hurricane hit, Ms. Hall said. "We could've taken in 140 animals."
To that end, the Humane Society is hosting its 12th annual Walk for the Animals from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday at Irving Mall. The walk-a-thon will generate funds either through pledges based on laps walked or on donations. Pledge proceeds are due by the end of the month, with all proceeds going toward Corky's Cottage.
Also benefiting the shelter will be the annual Black Collar Affair later this year at Austin Ranch in The Colony, and a new program called "Cruising for Corky's," in which people book passage on a seven-day Caribbean cruise and have a portion of the proceeds benefit the shelter.
Even the smallest donation is important, Mr. Pope said, because the Stemmons Foundation agreed last year to match each dollar up to $100,000 per year for five years. With four years lefton that pledge, he hopes many people will help.
NAN COULTER/Special Contributor to Dallas Morning News
Prospective owner Jacob Reirdon, 10, petted orange and white tabby Sampson, 2 months, as volunteer Debbie Williams groomed him at the DFW Humane Society in Irving earlier this week.
Area group also gears up for expansion fundraising
By EMILY POWELL / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas - Debbie Hall lived in Irving for 20 years before she realized the city was also home to the DFW Humane Society.
When a stray cat had kittens near her home, she went looking for a community shelter.
She found a place "with a heart" and spent the next 20 years as a volunteer at the "no kill" shelter.
The DFW Humane Society was established in 1967 to give homeless animals a chance to be placed in a good home and to prevent cruelty.
It houses more than 100 animals at any given time. Last year, it arranged adoption of more than 800 pets.
This week, shelter volunteers and foster-pet guardians are doubling their efforts to assist animals abandoned or in need of temporary homes after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The Humane Society could not accept any abandoned animals itself because it was overcapacity even before the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast.
But it has set aside funds for any shelter that needs assistance in the coming weeks.
The shelter's animals are brought by owners who can no longer care for them or are strays turned in by residents.
Ms. Hall, 57, said she has been bringing in animals for years.
Her four cats were all rescued from the street, and she swears she is marked as a haven for all animals in need.
"A black cat brought me a [live] rabbit," she said. "I get turtles, cats, dogs. I have to keep cat and dog leashes in the car."
Darryn Pope, president of the shelter's board of directors, said a primary goal for the society this year is to raise enough funds to build a bigger shelter, to be called Corky's Cottage. The Humane Society has bought 2.3 acres for a new site but needs $2.4 million for the project itself, $1.5 million of that before breaking ground.
"I wish we'd had the new building" when the hurricane hit, Ms. Hall said. "We could've taken in 140 animals."
To that end, the Humane Society is hosting its 12th annual Walk for the Animals from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday at Irving Mall. The walk-a-thon will generate funds either through pledges based on laps walked or on donations. Pledge proceeds are due by the end of the month, with all proceeds going toward Corky's Cottage.
Also benefiting the shelter will be the annual Black Collar Affair later this year at Austin Ranch in The Colony, and a new program called "Cruising for Corky's," in which people book passage on a seven-day Caribbean cruise and have a portion of the proceeds benefit the shelter.
Even the smallest donation is important, Mr. Pope said, because the Stemmons Foundation agreed last year to match each dollar up to $100,000 per year for five years. With four years lefton that pledge, he hopes many people will help.
NAN COULTER/Special Contributor to Dallas Morning News
Prospective owner Jacob Reirdon, 10, petted orange and white tabby Sampson, 2 months, as volunteer Debbie Williams groomed him at the DFW Humane Society in Irving earlier this week.
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