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Desolation could leave refugees here for months, state officials say Thursday, Sep 1, 2005 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau Arkansas, particularly southern Arkansas, could be a haven for months for those whose homes were devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Mike Huckabee said Wednesday. "Given the flooding, especially in the New Orleans area, many of these evacuees will be here for weeks, maybe even months," the governor said. "We want to do everything in our power to make life easier for these people." The governor had no immediate estimate of the number of people from the Gulf Coast seeking shelter in Arkansas, but said it could be in the thousands. He made his announcement while issuing a proclamation that allows the state to spend $75,000 in emergency funds to assist shelters in 14 counties: Ashley, Chicot, Clark, Cross, Craighead, Crittenden, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Garland, Mississippi, Miller, Pulaski and Union. Huckabee said there were "about 75 evacuees at a Crossett shelter, last night, more than 100 people at various shelters in Chicot County, 150 people at a shelter in Arkadelphia, 100 people at a shelter in West Memphis, several hundred people at various shelters in Desha County, 80 people at a shelter in Monticello, 150 people at the Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center, 50 people at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, several dozen people at Texarkana, 35 people at a shelter in Camden, more than 200 people at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock and more than 100 people at various shelters in Union County." "We expect the numbers to grow," the governor said of people in the emergency shelters. Besides emergency shelters, available lodging from hotels to state park cabins reported being full. Arkansas.com, a Web site set up for tourist information, carried a list of lodging still left in southern Arkansas by Wednesday. "I just got a call from my counterpart in Missouri, on how we're handling it," said Greg Butts, director of state parks. "They're getting calls for cabins in Southern Missouri." There will be a coordinated, long-term plan to shelter people in Arkansas that will include all federal and state agencies, Butts said. He also said that 70 percent of the developed camping sites in Arkansas are in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facilities, and that other federal facilities in Arkansas such as national forest facilities, are also likely to figure prominently in federal plans. "I'd think that any federal property in Arkansas that's high and dry will be in use before this is over, but that's a guess," Butts said. The crisis arrives during the Labor Day weekend, a peak of the Arkansas tourist season. "I sent out an e-mail yesterday that people who fled the storm to lodges and cabins get to stay," Butts said. "People like you and me who still have a place to stay but who had a reservation at the park will get a gift certificate, or a room at another state park. I don't think that will be a problem with anyone who has an ounce of humanity in his bones." The state is giving a 20 percent discount on cabins and rooms, free tent sites and half-priced fees for recreational vehicle camping sites to storm refugees, Butts said. A prohibition on pets in rooms and cabins has been waived. Also, parks department employees have "been calling people day and night" to let them know that their reservations have been canceled, he said. Displaced students are registering for classes in Arkansas schools, said Julie Thompson, spokesman for the state Department of Education. The department will not have a tally until Sept. 15 at the earliest, but the number will be "significant," she said Wednesday. Huckabee also announced that almost 500 more Arkansas National Guard personnel will be activated and sent to Louisiana. A 15-soldier crew left in seven trucks from Hazen Tuesday, and about 350 members of the Arkansas National Guard were activated earlier in the week and sent to Mississippi. This force consists of engineers, military police, transportation specialists, medical specialists and maintenance support personnel. Two Arkansas National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters also have been sent to Mississippi. The state Department of Parks and Tourism is using the state visitors' centers at El Dorado, Texarkana, Lake Village and Helena to direct evacuees to shelters and places with remaining motel and hotel rooms. "Just as an example, we have a family of 26 from New Orleans using seven of the cabins at Lake Chicot State Park," Huckabee said. According to Butts, that "extended family" includes an elderly grandmother who breathes through a portable oxygen tube. Huckabee said the state Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Emergency Management and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association will provide evacuees with emergency supplies of prescription drugs and access to dialysis machines. The state is asking the staff in health clinics to volunteer for out-of-state assignments and is seeking permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide food stamps to hurricane victims. Local health units also are providing tetanus-diphtheria shots to evacuees and emergency workers, the governor said. "The best thing individual Arkansans can do is call 1-800-HELP-NOW or go to www.redcross.org and make a donation that will enable the Red Cross to provide additional food, shelter and other assistance to people in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama," Huckabee said. "Gov. Blanco of Louisiana also has asked that we all participate today in a day of prayer." Red Cross centers at least as far north as Springdale opened to refugees. The Springdale center told The Associated Press that there were 38 people from Louisiana there. Red Cross volunteers used a room at the Harvey Jones Community Health Center to house the people. Entergy Arkansas, the state's largest electric utility, sent 362 workers to help its sister utilities in Louisiana and Mississippi, including 205 linemen and service people, according to AP. The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas sent 100 linemen to Louisiana, 28 to Alabama and 13 to Mississippi, according to reports. |
