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Evacuees Thankful for Kindness of Others
North County Time
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
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New Orleans evacuee Chiquita Patterson and her children ---- Jovana, 6, left, Diamond, 9, and Ceion, 13 ---- look at a new cell phone Tuesday in the lobby of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego where they are staying, so they can keep in touch with family members in New Orleans. |
SAN DIEGO ---- As have tens of thousands of other New Orleans families, Chiquita Patterson and her three children lost their home and everything they own to Hurricane Katrina, she said Tuesday.
And even though she is desperately trying to learn what became of her father, who uses a wheelchair, Patterson said she feels blessed.
"It's kind of tough when you've lost everything, but I thank God I was able to get out with my kids," she said.
They managed to escape the morning before Hurricane Katrina struck, when her
aunt's husband drove the school bus he owns around the city, picking up some 19
family members and delivering them to a shelter in Baker, La., Patterson said.
Patterson is one of 82 evacuees who arrived in San Diego on Sunday afternoon and will clearly be in the city for many weeks to come. In fact, Patterson, 31, said she wants to put down roots here.
"It's not where you live; it's how you live," she said. "To tell you the truth, I'm afraid to go back."
American Red Cross, city and county officials are working to find temporary long-term housing for the families, as well as schools for the children, a Red Cross spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Patterson family stayed in the shelter in Baker for several days and soon learned that their home had been destroyed by the flooding. Then on Sunday, a Carmel Valley oil exploration company executive, David Perez, showed up at the Bethany Prayer Center in Baker and offered to transport 82 evacuees to San Diego on a rented Boeing 737 jet. Patterson, her children and six other relatives accepted the offer and arrived here Sunday night.
But some of Patterson's other relatives didn't take the offer, she added.
"They didn't want to leave their homes," she said.
The 30 or so families Perez brought to San Diego are now staying as guests of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Market Street on San Diego's Embarcadero. Hotel owner Doug Manchester offered to write off the estimated $22,500 cost of their stay through Thursday morning, said the hotel's sales director, Rod Cameron.
Upon arriving in San Diego, the families were housed for one night at a temporary shelter that Red Cross officials had set up at Kearny High School.
A Red Cross official said Tuesday that her organization is collaborating with other public and private organizations to locate long-term temporary housing for the families.
If host families or other forms of long-term temporary lodging have not been found for the evacuees by Thursday, when their stay at the Hyatt Regency is finished, "then we would provide them with hotel lodging and make sure to work with them for long-term temporary arrangements," said Red Cross spokeswoman Gayle Falkenthal.
Meanwhile, at the request of the Red Cross and the Department of Homeland Security, San Diego State University officials announced Monday that they will provide temporary shelter to an additional 600 evacuees at the school's Peterson Gymnasium, should there be a need. School officials have agreed to provide temporary shelter to the evacuees for up to 60 days, a spokeswoman at the school said Tuesday.
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New Orleans evacuee Ken Carter wipes a tear from his eye as he talks about the kindness he has received since he arrived in San Diego while in the lobby of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego where he is staying Tuesday. |
"We have agreed that we will step up to the plate; these are American citizens and people in need," Bill Norris, program manager for the San Diego office of Homeland Security, said Tuesday.
Perez could not be reached for comment Tuesday. In an interview earlier this week, the oil executive said that he had spent an estimated $250,000 of his own money to bypass professional relief operations out of frustration over their slow pace. Perez said he would return to Louisiana on Tuesday and vowed to bring another three planeloads of evacuees to San Diego.
Patterson and other evacuees expressed their gratitude for the kindness and generosity shown by Perez, hotel owner Manchester and San Diego residents.
"His (Perez's) heart is so big and God is going to bless him for what he has done, not just for my family, but for all of us," Patterson said.
As New Orleans evacuee Ken Carter, 52, stood in the Hyatt Regency's sumptuous lobby beneath massive chandeliers and soaring 40-foot murals, he said he was scared until he arrived in San Diego.
"Most of us arrived here with our baggage in plastic bags, but the people at the Hyatt have showed us so much love," he said.
"Everyone all through the city, saying, 'I'm sorry,' up and down the streets, in the grocery stores, everywhere you go," Carter said as he broke into tears and walked away.
Patterson's 9-year-old daughter, Diamond, said she wants to go back to New Orleans and help people.
"I hope they get all the water and trash out of New Orleans and there's some people still living," she said. "And I hope there is somebody who will welcome them with open hearts."
Those who wish to help with housing may call (858) 300-1211. For donations to the Red Cross, call (800) HELP-NOW. For Red Cross information, call (866) GET-INFO. For donations of goods, call Horizon Christian Fellowship, at (858) 554-1196.
Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com