http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...local_21met.ART0.North.Edition2.13a012d0.html Dallas hesitant to take evacuees if Rita strikes Still handling Katrina displaced, officials ask state to turn to bases 07:31 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 By EMILY RAMSHAW and JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News While Dallas County and Red Cross officials appeared pumped up and ready to respond to a possible wave of Hurricane Rita evacuees, top city leaders in Dallas were less than enthusiastic. When the Texas governor's office asked Monday by e-mail whether Dallas could be prepared to house an unspecified number of displaced victims from the approaching hurricane, Mayor Laura Miller and City Manager Mary Suhm fired back with their own question: Would the federal government open Texas' military bases to house evacuees from the Gulf Coast? "This effort to house and care for these people has been primarily a Red Cross and city of Dallas effort, more than anybody else," Ms. Miller said. "I feel at this point ... they should be evacuating to military bases, where they've got big kitchens, big dining halls, barracks, instead of to makeshift shelters." Volunteers, city officials and police officers have been working 18- to 20-hour days, Ms. Suhm said, and they're beat. Dallas will do what it has to, she said, but at this point it would be tough to take on any more evacuees. "The support system here is worn ragged," she said. "People in stress deserve the best support system they can get, and that's not us right now. There have to be other options." Kenny Shaw, director of Dallas' Office of Emergency Management, said that as of Tuesday evening, the state's Division of Emergency Management hadn't officially requested that Dallas take evacuees. But state officials promised to formally notify city officials before any evacuees were en route – a luxury Dallas didn't have with Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Shaw said Dallas can take in 1,500 to 2,000 people in Reunion Arena, if necessary. Fewer than 30 Katrina evacuees were expected to sleep there Tuesday night. And the Dallas Convention Center, which has already been emptied of evacuees, wouldn't be used, he said. "It's all up in the air," Mr. Shaw said. "What they've told us is, 'Get as ready as you can. If you've got shelter capability, get it up.' There are going to be some decisions made overnight." If Dallas gets the call, Mr. Shaw said, city officials are going to make a heartfelt request. "We're going to ask them to send them somewhere else first," he said. And if that doesn't work? "We'd get an eight- to 10-hour heads-up, at the least," he said. County's stance Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, who butted heads with Ms. Miller over how many Katrina evacuees the region could manage, said she has not spoken with anyone from the city about its involvement in Hurricane Rita efforts. "That's the state's role, not my role," she said. But she said that the state's emergency management office has been in contact with Dallas County and that the county is prepared to take evacuees. The Decker Jail, which has fewer than 200 Katrina evacuees remaining, could hold up to 1,000 people. And Ms. Keliher said several other locations prepared for Katrina evacuees, including sites in Duncanville and Richardson, could be used in a second effort. Ms. Keliher also offered to start calling leaders in other North Texas counties such as Wichita, Hill and Grayson, which expressed willingness to take Katrina evacuees but never received any. She said the state has not mentioned specific numbers of evacuees, and neither has she offered one to them. "Hopefully this won't be as awful as New Orleans, and we might only need to shelter people for a very short period, until the storm passes," she said. "Some of them will probably be coming this way." 'No matter what' Red Cross spokeswoman Anita Foster said the agency stands ready to help with another wave of Dallas-bound evacuees. "No matter what, no matter how exhausted we are or how active we've been with Hurricane Katrina, we have another hurricane coming that will affect people," she said. "Regardless, the Red Cross will be ready to respond." And in the end, Dallas will be, too, Ms. Miller said. But now that the city has helped many of its new neighbors out of shelters and into apartments, largely without federal or state aid, it's disheartening to think that shelters would fill up all over again, the mayor said. Military barracks would have "better conditions than we can provide in a sports arena, where you have the lights on 24/7," she said. "With any luck, this will not be as catastrophic as the last one," the mayor said. "But if they say that Fort Hood is full, we're not going to turn our back on them." Staff writer Paul Meyer contributed to this report. E-mail eramshaw@dallasnews.com and joneill@dallasnews.com
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I can certainly see where they're coming from. If Rita was to hit Brownsville and it appeared we'd possibly be asked to house more evacuees, I'm sure our city might respond in the same way.
Now is not the time to be bickering and trying to pass the buck. This type of government infighting led to the disaster in Louisiana.
It's not bickering. It's trying to do what's best for the evacuees. It's 72 hours before the storm is predicted to hit and they're letting the government know that they may not be able to handle any additional evacuees than what they already have. I'm really not seeing the problem here, nor do I see any bickering or government infighting here.
At first glance this is pathetic, but when you read, you know, its still pathetic...Typical Dallas, typical politics...She trys to save face by saying we won't turn them away, but that's the PC thing to say...The Big D was so willing to help out of towners, but not people from your own state... This just confirms what I've known all alone, DALLAS SUCKS!!!
Did you actually read the article? Would you rather Dallas say "come one, come all" and then when they get there, have no space for them and have them going in circles to other places? If Dallas has limited space, they damn well should make that clear so you don't have a mess of evacuees being shipped in circles.
funny how the mere mention of the word Dallas sends a good portion of the board into whine, b**** and moan mode. I would think this would be good news for most of you, as the evacuees would prefer to go to much better cities than Dallas.
I'm sure Dallas is real worried about "what's best for the evacuees." They just don't want anymore people in their town, I just don't see the city of Houston saying, "they should be sent to military bases for their own good."
What gives you any indication that they simply don't want any more people? Maybe, just maybe, they're wanting to make sure that the displaced people are taken care of comfortably and correctly. If this was Austin instead of Dallas, there wouldn't be this r****ded uproar.
It won't matter anyway. Houstonians have more sense than to go to Dallas. Besides you might end up in a shelter with these two characters:
Just like Houston shut down the Astrodome after it filled up and started sending people to San Antonio and other places, right? No, Houston would never suggest turning people away. Dallas clearly just hates poor evacuees.
Bottom line is that Dallas should be rushing to help Houston in this time of need. Instead they're trying to act as a last resort in case the military option doesn't pan out. I'm not sure why you're being so difficult today, 95...err Major...er whoever is using your account these days...
Yeah, I'm the one being difficult. I'm just trying to inject some sanity into your whining. Dallas is simply trying to prepare for what could be another onslaught of evacuees by letting the government know that they may not have the resources to adequately take care of this. Somehow, you get infighting and bickering out of an article that doesn't reflect that at all. I'm happy that they see a potential problem and are trying to deal with it nearly 72 hours before the storm is predicted to hit. They should be commended for trying to help the potential evacuees by making sure that someone is ready for them and for them not to be forced into a situation where there aren't the necessary resources.