Storm Evacuees Struggle with Plans
At a shelter for refugees from Hurricane Katrina in Jackson, Miss., people talk about their plans for the future.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Now we go to Jackson Coliseum on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds at a shelter for storm refugees. NPR's David Schaper spoke with some of the more than 1,000 people who've been taken there. They fled the coastal area of Mississippi when Katrina it. It is unclear how long they'll remain there.
Ms. ANDREA RAMOS(ph): My name is Andrea Ramos, and I'm here with my son and my fiance, and we're from New Orleans, the Gentilly area. And at this present time, we're just trying to grasp what we are going to do because we don't have a final destination yet. There's nothing there in New Orleans, nothing.
DAVID SCHAPER reporting:
What about jobs? I mean, do you have a place of employment to return to?
Ms. RAMOS: No. I work for a hotel, and from my understanding, my hotel sustained some serious damage in the storm. So it's basically going to mean that we're going to have to set up somewhere else. We're just trying to make a decision on where we want to go.
SCHAPER: Do you have family in other parts of the country that you can...
Ms. RAMOS: I only have family in one other place, and that's Dallas, Texas. So I'll probably go out there just so that I'll be near my family.
(Soundbite of crowd noise)
SCHAPER: If I could, could you tell me who you are and...
Ms. HATTIE BREESON(ph): Oh, my name is Hattie, Hattie Breeson, from New Orleans, and right now it's under water. Man, I'm just trying to get to Texas to my daughter.
Unidentified Man: What...
Ms. BREESON: It really is my whole family, my daughter and my son and my grandkids.
Unidentified Man: ...(Unintelligible). She doesn't mind that.
Ms. BREESON: That's all. You know, it's just the whole family. The only thing I'm worried about, my brother was left down there and two of his sons.
Mr. LARRY BARRIER(ph): I'm from New Orleans East. My name is Larry Barrier. And I have family that lives in Harrisonburg, so I'm going to try to, you know, start going to Harrisonburg. Actually, I'm waiting until the bus lines start running, you know. It's only an hour away. That's what I'm really waiting, until Greyhound starts running.
Mr. JOE GARRISON: I'm Joe Garrison. This is Ginny Garrison(ph), my wife. We're from Lesaba(ph)--well...
Mrs. GINNY GARRISON: Slidell.
Mr. GARRISON: Slidell now; it was Lesaba. Slidell. And apparently, our house and everything is lost. I'm trying to make a list now of what was lost. And we just now confirmed this today that that whole area where we were was devastated. So we're going to--we have a good friend that's just built a house up in North Carolina, and she's invited us to come up and stay with her for a while, till I can get it straightened out.
Mr. ELWOOD WILLIAMS: Well, I'm from New Orleans. My name is Elwood Williams. And I'm with my mama, dad, my grandma, my old lady, my family, and--I don't know. We planning on just moving on, you know. They say New Orleans is destroyed, so plan on moving on. Probably go to Dallas, somewhere, you know, and start life all over again.
SCHAPER: Why Dallas?
Mr. WILLIAMS: Well, I have a sister and a brother-in-law that's down there. They really want us to come out there by them. So we say Dallas or--and then I got an auntie in Chicago, but I don't want to go far that up, you know
Ms. VELMA SHIELDS(ph): My name is Velma Shields. I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana. My plan is to try to go back home. And if I can't--now, see, my husband is in Tulane Hospital. He was intensive care, so I couldn't stay with him.
Unidentified Woman: Let's go. Grab on.
Ms. SHIELDS: He has all the signs of Parkinson's disease and heart trouble. The Red Cross called for me yesterday, but they couldn't get through.
SCHAPER: That's got to weigh heavy on your heart.
Ms. SHIELDS: Yes, it is. I'm very worried about him.
SIEGEL: People who sought shelter at the Jackson Coliseum on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds. They spoke with NPR's David Schaper.
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