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Hurricane Katrina

Exodus

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published September 2, 2005

	MORE COVERAGE: MULTIMEDIA Multimedia: Continuing fallout Latest Times photos Storm Watch blog

TAMPA - They came by car, most with little more than the clothes on their backs.

With no rooms in Georgia, and none in North Florida, they just kept driving.

They are high school athletes. Men in snakeskin shoes. Families with children, retirees and Spanish speakers.

But none of them can go home.

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay chapter of the Red Cross opened the first shelter in the area to house evacuees trickling in from the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina. About 60 refugees from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had found their way to the shelter.

That number is expected to grow.

As of late Thursday, no evacuees had shown up at the shelter at First United Methodist Church of Tarpon Springs. The church can hold 275 people.

"Looking at the number of people coming in, and those we were hearing about over the phone, we felt there probably would be a need for creating a place for them to go beyond our offices," said Tim Teahan, Red Cross spokesman.

People from the stricken states began showing up at organization's Tampa office on Tuesday, said John G. Mitchell, director of emergency services.

Many had fled their homes Saturday and Sunday when emergency officials sent out the first round of evacuation warnings.

The problem: Many others had the same idea.

Hotels throughout Georgia and northern Florida were booked solid, according to evacuees and Red Cross volunteers.

"They couldn't find places to stay along the way so they just kept going south until they landed in Florida," Mitchell said.

Others who arrived at the Red Cross' W Main Street office had been visiting Tampa Bay when the storm hit. People began flocking to the Red Cross when news came that people couldn't go home to New Orleans and other devastated cities for two to three months.

Making matters worse for evacuees is their inability to access accounts with ATM cards that draw money from local banks in New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama.

"They're running out of money and so that means they can't afford to stay at a hotel and keep buying food," said Ian Campbell, coordinator of community services for the Red Cross.

Grass roots efforts to find shelter for hurricane victims are growing locally.

By Thursday, a handful of Tampa Bay residents had added their names to www.katrinahousing.org

Sujette Travis listed her Temple Terrace home for up to four weeks. She even offered to drive as close as she could get to the New Orleans area as possible to bring house guests back to Florida.

Area hospitals also could see evacuees. Tampa International Airport has been identified as one of two airports to receive patients with critical medical needs. It was unknown Thursday exactly which local hospitals could be treating the patients. Ellington Field Airport in Houston is receiving patients as well.

As evacuees arrive at the Red Cross' Tampa office, they must verify in some way that they are from a hurricane-stricken location. A driver's license or insurance card is preferred. Those without such ID must at least describe where they live.

After they answer questions about medical, food, clothing and lodging needs, evacuees are issued client assistance cards to purchase food and clothing and are directed to a shelter. The cards work much like debit cards at most stores. The amount is based on a specific family's needs.

Questions about how evacuated children will go to school, and just how long the Tarpon Springs shelter will remain open, remain unanswered.

"That's down the road," Mitchell said. "Right now we're just worried about the basics."

Kevin Graham contributed to this report. Nicole Johnson can be reached at njohnson@sptimes.com or 727 771-4303.

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 02:15:35]