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Evacuees in S.D. area number nearly 1,000
Feds to be asked to take city
off relocation list
By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE
September 13, 2005
A surprising, steady stream of Gulf Coast evacuees into San Diego County has raised the number of registered newcomers to nearly 1,000 people since the storm.
Red Cross officials expect the figure to be easily surpassed in the next day or two.
As of 2:30 p.m. yesterday, about 935 people, representing at least 441 families, had been processed by the American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial counties.
Evacuees who were helped at the Red Cross Family Assistance Center yesterday ranged from those who had been in the city a few hours to those who have been here more than a week but didn't know where to go for help.
"About 90 percent of these evacuees got here on their own, either by car or bus, and many have personal contacts in the area," Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins said.
Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had planned to send up to 600 evacuees to San Diego, but Atkins noted the city already has more than that. That is why the chief of the San Diego office of the Department of Homeland Security, Augie Gio, was scheduled to ask federal authorities to remove San Diego from the relocation list, Atkins said.
"As you can see from the jump in the number of evacuees over the past week, more and more people are arriving in San Diego by a means other than FEMA-sponsored transportation," Atkins said.
Red Cross and local housing agencies are confident San Diego will be able to provide enough housing for those already here, Atkins said.
And as more and more arrive, San Diego will reach out to other cities in the county to provide housing and social services, said George Biagi, Atkins' spokesman.
Hundreds of newcomers have already been given job leads and information on housing and welfare assistance, job training, child care and health services at the Red Cross center at 4579 Mission Gorge Plaza, which is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The first thing children receive when they arrive at the center is a comforting teddy bear, and families get individual conferences with caseworkers, though the wait takes hours and sometimes all day.
A surprising, steady stream of Gulf Coast evacuees into San Diego County has raised the number of registered newcomers to nearly 1,000 people since the storm.
Red Cross officials expect the figure to be easily surpassed in the next day or two.
As of 2:30 p.m. yesterday, about 935 people, representing at least 441 families, had been processed by the American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial counties.
Evacuees who were helped at the Red Cross Family Assistance Center yesterday ranged from those who had been in the city a few hours to those who have been here more than a week but didn't know where to go for help.
"About 90 percent of these evacuees got here on their own, either by car or bus, and many have personal contacts in the area," Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins said.
Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had planned to send up to 600 evacuees to San Diego, but Atkins noted the city already has more than that. That is why the chief of the San Diego office of the Department of Homeland Security, Augie Gio, was scheduled to ask federal authorities to remove San Diego from the relocation list, Atkins said.
"As you can see from the jump in the number of evacuees over the past week, more and more people are arriving in San Diego by a means other than FEMA-sponsored transportation," Atkins said.
Red Cross and local housing agencies are confident San Diego will be able to provide enough housing for those already here, Atkins said.
And as more and more arrive, San Diego will reach out to other cities in the county to provide housing and social services, said George Biagi, Atkins' spokesman.
Hundreds of newcomers have already been given job leads and information on housing and welfare assistance, job training, child care and health services at the Red Cross center at 4579 Mission Gorge Plaza, which is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The first thing children receive when they arrive at the center is a comforting teddy bear, and families get individual conferences with caseworkers, though the wait takes hours and sometimes all day.
Some evacuees are like Carolyn McManus of New Orleans, who made sure her niece and her niece's four children were safely resettled in Dallas before coming to live with her son in Ramona.
"Come home, Mom," the son had told McManus, stressing that home is where one's family lives, and sent her a plane ticket. For now, she plans to enjoy her grandchildren, Dominic, 5, Cameron, 4, and Anthony, 2.
Many of the evacuees say they can't see beyond the immediate need to survive.
Kacie George said she surprised her husband, Mitchell, who is in the Navy, at Camp Pendleton. She couldn't reach him, so she drove out west in a friend's car with their 18-month-old daughter, Kadence, after abandoning their home in Gulfport, La.
The reunion was emotional, she
said, "But now it seems we don't know what to do."
The mother and daughter are staying at a hotel on the base because they can't
stay in the barracks. But The Georges running out of money. They want to return
to Gulfport to check on their three-bedroom ranch house.
For others, the move is permanent and the beginning of a new life.
Danell Perry, 19, is one of seven evacuees who landed in San Diego on Sunday night on a flight coordinated by businessman David Perez of Carmel Valley. Her family of 15, including 10 children, wanted to go to a new city, she said.
Perez has chartered more than 15 flights in the past two weeks to ferry supplies to the Gulf Coast and bring back evacuees. He brought 82 people Sept. 4. He has since brought at least 40 more.
"They just asked us if we wanted to come to San Diego, and we thought it was a good place, far away from the (hurricane) area, and we came," Perry said. She has no family here.
"We'll see how it goes," she said. "At least we're together."