AUSTIN — With nearly a quarter-million Katrina refugees already in Texas
and more still pouring in, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials
Sunday to airlift some of them to other states that have offered help.
DONNA McWILLIAM / AP
Faith Crossing Church member Cynthia Jones, right, prays with an
unidentified New Orleans evacuee at a Sunday church service in
Forney, Texas.
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Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said relief centers around the state are
running out of room.
"There are shelters set up in other states that are sitting empty while
thousands arrive in Texas by the day, if not the hour," Perry said. "We
are doing everything we can to address the needs of evacuees as they
arrive, but in order to meet this enormous need, we need help from other
states."
Aid centers will be set up at airports in Houston and Dallas where
incoming refugees can be given food, water and medical care before they
are flown out. The governor's office said some of those flights could
begin Sunday.
The Texas National Guard will coordinate the air operation. Perry said
American, Continental and Southwest Airlines, all of which are based in
Texas, have agreed to help.
Since Thursday, Perry's office has been in contact with several states,
including Utah, Oklahoma, Michigan, Iowa, New York, West Virginia and
Pennsylvania, about providing shelter for Louisiana evacuees. West
Virginia is sending three C-130 planes to Lackland Air Force base in San
Antonio to help move refugees.
The governor's office said arrangements also were being made to bring
cruise ships to Galveston to house Louisianans left homeless by the
storm.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said she she did not know how many refugees
might ultimately end up in other states.
On the traditional day of rest, officials are stepping up their effort
to retreive dead bodies in some parts of the city. They can be found
easily.
Texas has been taking in refugees from New Orleans since Wednesday. The
storm has displaced some 1.5 million people.
Texas officials estimate 100,000 Louisiana residents are staying in
hotels and motels across the state and an additional 123,000 are being
temporarily housed in 97 shelters throughout the state from the Houston
Astrodome to El Paso.
