hurricane victims arrive in Utah, do not want to stay

[Hamlette]

the first plane load of people destined for Salt Lake said "hell no, we won't go" (or words to that effect) so the second plane load were not told where they were going until they were in the air.

The state will provide them with a one way bus ticket to anywhere they want to go and other services. The delivery of services in Utah has not been bad its just not where these people want to be.

I was afraid some people would say the victims are ungrateful. Luckily, what I've been hearing around the office is "you can't blame them, this would be a horrible culture shock, taken so far from friends, family and with winter coming. They should have tried to accomodate them closer to where their homes were." Even people who are more conservative are saying that.

[Aristus]

1. Can you blame them? It's fucking UTAH!

Red state, with white people, and no blue whatsoever.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

8. nice... nice...

all white people a problem for you? heaven forbid that bad white people might want to help...nice and racist of you.

subjectProdigal

[WI_DEM]

10. Oh stop it

There are lots of good people in Utah, and we even have some here on DU. Also Salt Lake City has a very progressive Mayor and it votes pretty democratic.

[roguevalley]

14. I had aunts once who never would come out to Oregon from New

Hampshire because they were convinced that there were 'wild Indians' with bows and arrows between them and us. People from the east and south often don't know the west beyond tv. Utah would be a shock after NO. These people are traumatized. I am sure it isn't personal.

[jean]

2. many people may have relatives they can go to but there's no

coordination - the effort is so massive you can't 'reserve' your ticket to your relatives and expect to get there. This may end up even more convoluted, with people displaced, dismayed and beyond shock.

[OKNancy]

3. Where did you hear that?

Utah generosity has evacuees thinking of staying
Article Last Updated: 9/06/2005 01:38 AM


Utah generosity has evacuees thinking of staying

By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

BLUFFDALE -- A day after arriving in Utah, Mary and David Richard Jr. are ready to call this their new home.
Awed by the kindness that has enveloped them since their arrival and stunned by the beauty of the Wasatch Mountains, the New Orleans' couple have begun the search for a new house, a new life.
There is nothing to return to, they said Monday as they ate lunch in a dining hall at Camp Williams. Their home is gone and with it their day-care business.
"This opportunity has opened doors for us," Mary Richard said. "I'm hoping we can start our business again. We have no intentions of going back there to live. Everyone is warm here, courteous. They don't let you want for anything."
Like the Richards, a handful of other evacuees said Monday they were prepared to make a fresh start in Utah. They are among some 600 people brought here from ravaged New Orleans as of late Sunday, when the most recent planeload of evacuees arrived in Utah.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3004205





http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,605152397,00.html
Camp life: 'It's great here'

Evacuees are grateful for hospitality and services

By Angie Welling
Deseret Morning News
CAMP WILLIAMS — The hottest ticket in this town is to the barbershop, now open every Monday for five hours.
Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning NewsJoshua Bowie leads "platoon" of smiling children across a street at Camp Williams to get some lunch. He figured a march was in order since they are at a military base. The shop, the latest addition to a growing number of services for some 600 people evacuated from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, joins a cafeteria and commissary, medical clinic, employment center/transportation hub for people trying to get back to loved ones in other states.
"This is a little community we're caring for," said Ash Chambers, a Red Cross volunteer from Spokane, Wash. "We're going to make them as comfortable as possible here."

[MildyRules]

6. Oh Shush!

Everyone knows Utah sucks! (eyes rolling)

[Hamlette]

11. Nice to see some of them want to stay. . .

I did not mean to imply all of them want to leave and maybe this is happening in all places where they are being sent.

I heard it from the head of the legal department of the Utah welfare office. That office is doing most of the work for the victims.

And, we love it when you all say/think Utah is a horrid place.

[astonamous]

4. I'm in Utah and don't want to stay...

Actually, the first thing I thought of when the first survivors started arriving was the same thing. What a shock for them. I know that for the most part, they are thankful to be someplace safe and dry. But it is really too far from everything familiar. I did see a news report that one lady who had gotten separated from her kids and found out they were in San Antonio, said that she is going to stay in Utah. She doesn't want to go back, but I believe that is probably still the shock of this whole thing.

I have lived in Texas and Maryland...I can tell you what a cultural shock this place can be.

[helderheid]

13. hi fellow Utahn

:hi:

[astonamous]

15. Howdie!

So, there is what 3 democrats in Utah? You, me and Rocky!

[helderheid]

16. LOL!! :) You ought to join us at

www.udpc.org :)

Almost 300 on the list!

[mongo]

5. This just in....

Living in Utah is worse than cholera...

[seito]

7. I think evacuees would welcome any relief.

I highly doubt that they care what state it is coming from.

Of course, in the long term, most will want to get home as soon as possible.

[CityZen-X]

9. Whats Wrong With Utah?!

a place where you can marry children, as many as you want, and thrive on eating Bu$h*t all day long! Praise John Smith Christ, hellelujah!

[marbuc]

Just because they were evacuated

this doesn't mean they should be forced to go anywhere and be grateful for it. They are still people after all, geez.

[helderheid]

12. I don't blame them for not wanting to come here.

There is talk that telling them they were going to Texas when they were really on their way here was against their civil rights.

[Catherine Vincent]

17. If I were an evacuee, I wouldn't want to go to Utah either.

Isn't Orin Hatch their senator? :-)

[gkhouston]

18. don't underestimate the "winter coming" aspect of it.

I've lived in Colorado. I've lived in Texas, too. All I can say is that we would have died in the heat the first summer if we'd moved straight from Colorado to Texas and moving in the reverse direction would have been equally tough. Going from a climate where you might seen half an inch of snow maybe for twenty minutes once every 5 years to somewhere where you might see snow from September until April or May -- that's a toughie. And that doesn't even begin to cover the "painfully white" aspect of Utah. I'm not saying Utah isn't nice, but it would be so alien that I can see why some of the survivors would rather be somewhere more like Louisiana.

[LisaLynne]

19. Locking...

Please do not bash entire regions of the US. We have members from all over this country. Thank you.