More Katrina evacuees bound for San Diego

North County Times
September 5, 2005

Wire Reports

San Diego is awaiting the arrival of up to as many as 600 hurricane victims from the Gulf Coast but there was no word when they might arrive, a spokesperson for the deputy mayor said Monday.

"We do expect some more but we don't know exactly when," said Denise Price, a spokesperson for Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins.

The rescue effort will be coordinated by the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Price said.

The information comes a day after a group of 80 hurricane victims were airlifted out of New Orleans and brought to San Diego by chartered jet.

The airlift was undertaken by businessman David Perez, who told the press he was frustrated by the slow moving recovery efforts of local, state and federal officials.

He chartered a 737 and took it to Louisiana, bringing back the group.

Today, Perez collected the group from Kearny High School -- where they were sheltered by the Red Cross -- and took them shopping at Wal-Mart, then to a hotel, according to Gayle Falkenthal, spokesperson for the Red Cross San Diego chapter.

Once Perez took the hurricane victims away, Red Cross workers began dismantling their makeshift shelter, some of them interrupting their work to race to a brushfire that threatened about 100 homes in Rancho Penasquitos.

The Red Cross, in anticipation of a new wave of refugees, has arranged to use a San Diego State University gymnasium as a shelter for up to 600 people.

"We're kind of on alert," Price said.