Dallas to house 25,000 refugees (Reunion Arena and the convention center)

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/katrina/stories/090205dnmetkatcity.177f8472.html


Dallas soon will be the temporary home for at least 25,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees from Louisiana, state and local officials confirmed on Thursday. City and county leaders scrambled to locate suitable shelter for such an influx of storm victims, who they expected to arrive primarily by bus and plane beginning Saturday.

Reunion Arena and a 200,000-square-foot portion of the Dallas Convention center, both downtown, could house as many as 12,000 people, City Manager Mary Suhm said.


<snip>

The police department will provide around-the-clock coverage concentrated at Reunion, the West End and along Industrial Avenue, Chief Kunkle said. Other deployments will be made as necessary, he said. The chief and other top city officials will meet at 9 a.m. today to plan their next moves.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit will begin distributing 1,000 two-week system passes beginning today to the refugees. Dallas has also constructed a makeshift animal shelter in a Reunion parking garage, complete with food, water and veterinarian care, for dozens of displaced pets, said Ade Williams, assistant director of Dallas’ Department of Code Compliance.

[Joebert]

1. Go Dallas!

(And as a Philadelphian, that's hard for me to say)

[Scooter24]

2. They will probably open up

the rest of the convention center after mid-September. Right now Walmart has posession of almost 70% of it, setting up for their yearly holiday meeting.

I know a lot of local business and companies are donating services and goods. Earlier, they interviewed a team of doctors and nurses who are volunteering their time to offer medical assistance. Proud to be a Dallas citizen right now :)