New Orleans – Heavily armed state policemen stood watch today as tense, exhausted and angry crowds struggled onto buses that would deliver them from the miserable conditions of the Superdome.
As buses that arrived hours late were being loaded for the trip to the Houston Astrodome, a crowd broke through a line of National Guardsmen and rushed the glass doors into the Hyatt Regency complex that adjoins the Superdome.
They were stopped by 19 heavily armed state policemen – one had an AR15 rifle and another a 12-gauge shotgun – all in Kevlar vests.
State police officer K.W. Miller told a reporter, “You better move to the back. This is ready to break. We’ve been here since 6 a.m. and this is getting worse and worse.” Authorities had said Wednesday that some 25,000 people who had been in the Superdome since Sunday, taking shelter from Hurricane Katrina, would be taken to the Astrodome. The crowds at the New Orleans arena suffered in hot, smelly conditions with few supplies and no air conditioning.
The first buses left late Wednesday, and officials in Texas said that 2,000 people had already arrived at the Astrodome in Houston by late this morning
. Besides the 25,000 or so hurricane refugees being brought to Houston, Texas officials said another 25,000 would be taken to San Antonio.
But an angry Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans’ emergency operations, watching the slow procession from the Superdome, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency response was inadequate.
“This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control,” Ebbert said. “We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans. We have got a mayor who has been pushing and asking but we’re not getting supplies.” He said the evacuation was almost entirely a Louisiana operation. “This is not a FEMA operation. I haven’t seen a single FEMA guy.” One hundred buses were due to arrive at the Superdome at 6 a.m., but the first buses of the morning didn’t get there until more than 3 1/2 hours later.
Early today, an air ambulance service official said that helicopter transfers of the sick and injured were suspended amid a report that a military copter was fired on. But the National Guard said able-bodied evacuees from the Superdome were still being moved by bus to Houston.
Frank Guitierrez, coordinator of the Harris County, Texas, Office of Homeland Security, said the evacuee numbers have slowed because of the lack of civil authority in Louisiana. But authorities said the delays allowed officials at the Astrodome to better manage the transfer.
“The slower arrival rate has helped us a little bit working out the kinks. We are still evolving this process,” Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said.
Astrodome officials said they would accept only the 25,000 people stranded at the Superdome – a rule that was tested when a school bus arrived from New Orleans filled with families with children seeking shelter.
At first, Astrodome officials said the refugees couldn’t come in, but then allowed them to enter for food and water. Another school bus was also allowed in.
“We are going to do everything we can to make people comfortable,” Red Cross spokeswoman Margaret O’Brien-Molina said.
“Places have to be found for these people. Many of these people may never be able to rebuild.” The Astrodome’s schedule has been cleared through December. The dome is used on occasion for corporate parties and hospitality events, but hasn’t been used for professional sports in years.
In New Orleans, the refugees had lined up for the first buses, some inching along in wheelchairs, some carrying babies. Almost everyone carried a plastic bag or bundled bedspread holding the few possessions they had left. Many had no idea where they were heading.
“We tried to find out. We’re pretty much adrift right now,” said Cyril Ellisworth, 46. “We’re pretty much adrift in life. They tell us to line up and go, and we just line up and go.” The Astrodome’s new residents will be issued passes that will let them leave and return as they please, something that wasn’t permitted in New Orleans. Organizers also plan to find ways to help the refugees contact relatives.
