Alabama football fans have been asked to help Hurricane Katrina refugees by giving up their hotel rooms this weekend to evacuees.
Hotels around Tuscaloosa are booked leading to the school’s opener Saturday night against Middle Tennessee, and those reservations could displace evacuees staying in the rooms, athletic director Mal Moore said.
Moore sent an e-mail Wednesday to more than 50,000 supporters and season ticket-holders, asking people with hotel reservations to cancel so evacuees from Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi can have shelter.
“The human tragedy as a result of Katrina is staggering and I know Crimson Tide fans will do what they can to help those who are not able to immediately return to their homes,” Moore said.
Alabama’s Student Recreation Center also is serving as a Red Cross shelter for hundreds of evacuees.
The Southeastern Conference is donating $1 million to disaster relief. In addition to the donation, the conference announced each of its 12 universities will coordinate fundraising efforts at home football games during the next several weeks.
“Hurricane Katrina has devastated the lives of victims in four of the SEC’s states, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, and may continue to do so for months and years to come,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said.
In Tallahassee, Fla., there is concern hotel space might disappear for Katrina victims because Florida law requires hotels to honor all reservations. The hotels have been booked for weeks, with Florida State playing its opener against Miami and Florida A&M hosting Delaware State.
Red Cross officials in the city said Thursday they have room for up to 3,000 evacuees. The area’s 5,200 hotel rooms have been filled with refugees. They were full Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and at 85 percent capacity Wednesday. Refugees forced from hotels can turn to shelters, officials said.
Florida State officials met with the Red Cross concerning a fundraiser during Monday’s game. Students will collect donations at the 84,000-seat Doak Campbell Stadium.
Southern Mississippi’s team has relocated to Memphis for about a week after Hattiesburg was ravaged by the hurricane.
“Thank goodness for the city of Memphis and especially the University of Memphis,” Golden Eagles coach Jeff Bower said. “I don’t know what else we could do. I know our football team is very appreciative of everything Memphis is doing for us.”
The Golden Eagles will stay in Memphis until they depart for Tuscaloosa to play Alabama on Sept. 10.
Southern Miss players, coaches and staff bused to Memphis on Thursday.
“These kids haven’t hardly eaten. They haven’t had a lot of fluids and like me a lot of them are looking forward to a hot shower,” Bower said. “It’s difficult and we had to change our plans and make the proper adjustments. We are ultimately concerned about the welfare of our players and their families. We still have two or three players who haven’t made it back yet.”
The Golden Eagles haven’t practiced since going through a short workout Sunday night, hours before the storm hit Hattiesburg the next morning.
“These players aren’t thinking about football right now,” Bower said.
