Nearly 370 people who were forced to flee the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast found refuge in Colorado by today, and plenty of volunteers and emergency workers attended to their needs or helped those who stayed behind.
The latest group of 113 evacuees arrived early in the morning at Buckley Air Force Base and were taken by buses to dorms at the former Lowry Air Force Base, Buckley spokesman John Spann said.
So many people offered to help at the American Red Cross in Denver on Tuesday that some were asked to come back later, said Robert Thompson, spokesman for the Mile High Chapter.
Al Hein, 63, of Littleton, took time out from his window sales business to volunteer at a Red Cross phone bank in Denver taking calls from the afflicted area.
“It looks bad on TV, but when you talk to one of the people that’s been affected by this, listen to their heart and where they’re coming from, they need help,” he said.
Information was sketchy on exactly how many people had already come to Colorado from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and officials did not know how many to expect in the weeks to come.
Aurora Public Schools enrolled a handful of children of evacuated families while social services agencies were assessing what kind of aid they could provide.
Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall Aug. 29, up to 70 people from the Gulf Coast have found their way to the Red Cross in Denver to seek help, Thompson said. The agency is helping them find shelter, food and clothes and next week will begin looking into their long-term needs, such as housing if they decide to stay.
Besides those who have sought help on their own from the Red Cross, about 125 evacuees arrived in Denver on Sunday on a flight from Houston and were also taken to Lowry.
About 60 others had showed up on their own there, said Capt. Kevin Moffitt of the Aurora Fire Department, which was leading efforts to get evacuees to the dormitory and other housing.
Hein, who took a constant chain of calls Tuesday, said he was scheduled to return today, but the schedule was so packed with volunteers that he won’t be back after that until near the end of the month.
“People around the country are calling in. They got away from the water, but their lives are still in a shamble,” he said.
“The instructors tell you what these people need now is a voice, someone to reassure them in a calm manner. Most that call are very excited: nervous, looking for someone, they’ve lost everything,” he said. “I hope that I was of some help to a lot of them today. Most of them have lost their home. Everything that they ever had is gone. They’re just basically out on the street.” About nine children of hurricane victims had enrolled in Aurora Public Schools, and more could be coming at any time, said district spokeswoman Georgia Duran.
“We’re hoping to get students into the classrooms as soon as possible,” she said.
Denver Public Schools, which borders the Aurora district, also has space but hasn’t enrolled any new students so far, said spokesman Mark Stevens.
“No matter how they get here, we need to receive these families and find out what their needs are and get them the classroom setting that makes sense,” Stevens said.
Gov. Bill Owens has said Colorado expects up to 1,000 evacuees.
The state is well-prepared to handle such numbers, said Owens’ spokesman, Dan Hopkins.
“It’s a big undertaking to provide immediate shelter, but in the long run, whatever percentage of those people that decide to stay, it’s not a huge hit to the system,” Hopkins said.
He said the state’s job was made easier by huge efforts from various nonprofit agencies.
The Denver Human Services Department was helping evacuees register for food stamps, housing assistance, counseling and help locating relatives, said Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, spokeswoman for Mayor John Hickenlooper.
State education officials are prepared for an influx of students but don’t know how many to expect, said Gary Sibigtroth, assistant commissioner for educational services in the state Education Department.
State funding for public schools will be based on enrollment on Oct. 1. Sibigtroth said hurricane survivors will be treated the same as other students to determine schools’ funding.
Some federal funding under the No Child Left Behind Act can be diverted to basic education programs to help schools absorb the additional students, said Karen Connell, supervisor of an Education Department program that handles homeless students.
She said federal law eases registration in a new school district for students displaced by a disaster.
