Some refugees turned away at the Astrodome gates

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3334074



A despondent Nureka Jacobs of Louisiana and five children were turned away from the Astrodome on Wednesday, told it's open to bused-in refugees only.

<snip>Storm victims who made it to Houston on their own instead of being evacuated by bus from New Orleans were not allowed past the Astrodome's gates.

"We have nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep," fumed Rhonda Calderon of New Orleans, still crammed in a Nissan Maxima with seven other people after a 14-hour drive. "We came to Houston seeking shelter. Our kids are hungry. We have no gas. What do we do?"

The Astrodome was the fifth shelter Calderon and her family had visited.

"Everybody keeps turning us away," she said.

Throughout the day, many erupted in anger or dissolved in tears as they learned the Astrodome would not accept them. Some had no money left and little gasoline in their tanks.

[patdem]

1. WTF ARE the shelters???? the ONLY shelter outside of NOLA is this

Astrodome...NO shelter is in NOLA..the city is being evacuated...TO WHERE???????? THERE ARE NO OTHER SHELTERS IN THE US OF A EXCEPT THE ASTRODOME...:grr:

[enki23]

27. not true. many are coming here to central louisiana

many are in baton rouge. there are shelters being set up all over the state, and in surrounding states.

[Mari333]

2. Oh for gods sake!!! turning them away??

[defiant1]

3. That is sickening....

:puke:

[calimary]

36. Welcome to DU!

PLEASE GET BUSY!

Impeachment MAY be closer to reality, by now, than many of us realize.

VISUALIZE IMPEACHMENT!!!!
Pass it on...
And don't stop there!

[Bridget Burke]

4. There are other shelters in the area.

"It is a very trying circumstance," said Rusty Cornelius, administrative coordinator for the Harris County Emergency Management Office. "But we do have adequate shelter in Harris County or the ability to increase the shelters for the other evacuees needing it."

As of Wednesday night, the American Red Cross had 19 shelters open in the Greater Houston area.

Evacuees also may call 211 for information on available shelters, Cornelius said.

Perhaps Mr Cornelius needs to get his act together. Can't his people maintain contact with the other shelters? Instead of giving these people a phone number, they ought to make the calls & be sure the refugees have directions. Houston's a big city & they can burn a lot of gas driving around...

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. No kidding!

I got lost more than once when I lived there.

[Not_Giving_Up]

7. I've lived outside of Houston most of my life

I still get lost in that maze...How on Earth do they expect these people to find the shelters?????

[OhioBlue]

28. no kidding!!!

They shouldn't just turn them away - that is just plain cruel. they should have their own disaster management team mobilized to provide information and relocation assistance to those that show up looking for help. How can there be so much incompetence?????

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. HOUSTON, OPEN YOUR DOORS!

Why didn't the Mayor go on the air to his people and say, "There are refugees from New Orleans heading our way, people. They need a place to stay, a warm meal, and support. I ask you to open your homes to these people for one month until a more permanent solution can be found. Your fellow Americans need you and we must answer the call."

There should be a local family there meeting every family from New Orleans and taking them in. Are there not 30,000 families in the Houston area who would not help these people????

I am here in SF, and if there was any way logistiaclly I would take in a family right now. I have a small house and am poor, but dammit it's the least I could do.

[Not_Giving_Up]

8. If I had room I would

My brother is on his home from VA (OUT OF THE NAVY!), has driven all night, and is planning to head to the Astrodome to volunteer when he gets here.

[NCPatriot]

15. It cannot be too far to Crawford...

Maybe GW * should offer up his ranch as a place of temporary residence! I'm sure Karl is out of the trailer in front...

With all the public funds "We the People" have spent in tax dollars to fortify the joint, surely he should open the doors to the western white house!

[Not_Giving_Up]

24. It's about four hours

I made the trek Saturday. Plenty of room up there!

[calimary]

37. Good idea!

I'm sure there are lots of supplies there.

Welcome to DU!

Visualize IMPEACHMENT!!!!!!
Pass it on...
At the VERY LEAST...

[Bridget Burke]

19. There are approximately 100,000 refugees in Houston so far.

Some are in Red Cross shelters, often run by churches. Many who stayed in hotels are moving to shelters as their money runs out. Others were flown directly to the Texas Medical Center.

"The wild card is the number of people staying with friends and relatives. Stories abound of people taking as many as 10 or 20 people into their homes."

www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3334033

The Mayor is probably the one who cooked up the Astrodome plan--he's a good planner & a Democrat. Some of the people will needs places to stay for longer than a month--whjch is a long time for houseguests.

Edited to add a link to Share Your Home, also from the Houston Chronicle: www.shareyourhome.org/index.html

[Karenina]

31. Where are the MEGACHURCHES???

And their organizational skills???

[anitar1]

33. What ? Church help for blacks? Surely you jest. n/t

[Dr Fate]

9. I am physically ill. This is awful.

I guess this mom, child and family dog are seen as "looters" "rennegades" or "n*&^%s."

[Zhade]

10. Fucking reprehensible.

NT!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. The story and the time stamp don't mesh

This was written before the first bus arrived if I'm not mistaken, even if it's time stamped after. I know that they did let a bus load of people who sort of "found" a school bus and drove their way there from NO enter sometime this morning between 2 and 3 AM. It was rather funny when CNN was interviewing them and getting all the dramatic stories of how it was in the Superdome, only to later find out they had fibbed in order to get into the Astrodome.

I understand they they have limited space, but that is not an excuse for being callous. These people have been through enough and a little kindness can go along way. Geeze, help direct the others to the nearest shelters when they mistakenly arrive there. :wtf:

[demo dutch]

12. We MUST Call our Senators and local reps this is outrageous!

[KansDem]

13. Where are the churches? The "faith-based" programs?

Goddamnit!, Bush and the GOP wanted federal money to give "faith-based" charities so badly that they lied and cheated and stole to get it. Now, there is no Federal money for this kind of disaster AND no churches with their "faith-based" charities coming in to help!

I want all that federal money given BACK to the government by these scamming churches and their so-called "faith-based" charities!!!

[physioex]

17. Yea what happened to the "Culture of Life"???? EOM

[Bridget Burke]

20. Check the list of Red Cross Shelters...

www.houstonredcross.org/cgi-bin/NewsList.cgi?section=&cat=General&rec=161

You'll find quite a few churches on the list. The Salvation Army shelters are also open. I disagree with some of their policies, but they are doing some good work.

[callous taoboy]

29. Every church within 1000 mile radius should be open!!!

[Book Lover]

14. FWIW, local craigslists have folks posting some places for refugees

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/hhh/

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/apa/

http://houston.craigslist.org/apa/

[OhioBlue]

30. Houston area DUers - do you know if they are now

giving those that come by car directions to another shelter at the Astro Dome yet?

[AlamoDemoc]

16. Unbelievable!

[Roy]

18. On CNN now

A guy explaining that people were held back by armed officers and not allowed to board the buses since they were not from the Super Dome.

I thought they started turning away people trying to come into the Super Dome. And now they are saying that if you did not go through the process there, you will not be evacuted?

and now, if your fortunate enough to get away on your inititive, you will not be given refuge.

Even in the snip this family says they were turned away from other shelters.

[Parkerfur]

21. THis is so sad and horrible

Where are these people going to go... I can't believe all of the homeless people because of these possibile preventable tragedy...

[calimary]

35. Welcome to DU!

Where are all these people supposed to go? They need to go away and read the BUY-BULL!

Visualize IMPEACHMENT!!!!!!!!!!!
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[William Bloode]

22. Sad!

At this point they should have tent cities everywhere. They could have done tent cities much closer, and hence would have needed much less time to evacuate. running folks 330 miles away is terribly inefficient. This whole ordeal is being seriously mishandled.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. There was a thread yesterday that mentioned Russia's offer

of temporary shelters for victims.

Why in the hell don't they build CCC camps as they did in the Great Depression? Is that just too Democratic for Asshole and his crew?

[NorthernSpy]

25. thank Gawd she didn't salvage a few iPods from a flooded store!

She could have sold them in Houston and bought her kids and their little dog some food and shelter. And that would have been just plain terrible!

Looters! Shoot 'em all!

Damn immoral Looooooters!


:sarcasm:

[notadmblnd]

26. why hasn't the red cross set up at tent city north of NO

LA is a big state and I'm sure there are some nationforest or government land they could set up on. I don't understand why the hell this govt aren't acting? where are our leaders?

[rodeodance]

32. astrodome only set up for 25,000 people. but i heard they are now

letting these 'extra's' in and are looking for shelters for Dome people else where. it is all so confusing.

[ZenKitty]

34. Astrodome Welcomes All Hurricane Refugees (updated)

http://www.click2houston.com/news/4924019/detail.html

[calimary]

38. Welcome to DU!

PLEASE! You, too, GET BUSY!

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Then take some action toward that goal!!!!!!!!!!
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[NuttyFluffers]

39. y'know, a smart president would open all motels/hotels and cover the $

just to get the people out of the danger, lower the medical crisis, and reestablish some normality while the army corp of engineers, NG, and volunteers repair the devastated areas.

seriously, there's oodles of winn dixies, wal-marts, motel 6s, comfort inns, etc. in a 1000 mile radius to call upon. just say, "the refugees will be staying in such facilities... grocery centers will provide supplies to them... all bills will at the end be guaranteed by the fed gov't (even if we are broke as a joke - just say it to get people taken care of). able refugees will be hired upon a temporary basis by the federal gov't to assist in distribution and organization of those displaced by this disaster. we need to get rid of the human crisis about to unfold, so we can focus on the engineering crisis, so as to return to normalcy ASAP."

but that'd be expecting real leadership now wouldn't it? well, welcome to the great fundamentalist conservative dream, a gov't that can't wipe its own ass after it shat all over itself. gee, i wonder why such gov'ts never survived long throughout history....?