SAN DIEGO — Over by Gate A, you can get a free massage or acupuncture treatment. Up on the Plaza Level are group counseling sessions and medical checkups. Hungry? Go to Gate F for hot meals – Gate D if you want kosher or Gate N for Mexican.
Is this some giant health fair or new kind of vacation theme park? Think again – it’s San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, the primary evacuation center for the California wildfires.
“It’s amazing,” said Eugenia Willis, who pulled into Qualcomm’s parking lot around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday after evacuating her fire-threatened home east of town. “I don’t know if my house is standing or not. But being here makes me feel comfortable, safe.”
You didn’t hear words like that – or see resources like this – two years ago in another NFL stadium after another monumental disaster.
In the Superdome in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, people died. Sewage ran in the corridors. Food and fresh water were nearly nonexistent. The evacuees had to fend for themselves, with very little security, almost no resources and little government aid.
Of course, comparing Qualcomm after the fires to the Superdome after the hurricane isn’t quite fair.
While more than 12,000 people are temporarily sheltered at Qualcomm, the number in the Superdome eventually swelled to about 25,000.
Accessibility here isn’t a problem like it was when New Orleans was under water. There’s no leaking roof, the water and electricity work, and the wildfires – while they are a major disaster – haven’t been nearly as devastating or far-reaching as Katrina.
But it’s hard not to notice the stark contrast.
Some observers say it’s because government leaders from Bush on down are doing everything they can in order to avoid the accusations of incompetence and indifference that arose after Katrina.
Others give different reasons.
First, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Dave Paulison said, is the benefit of lessons learned, both from New Orleans and from the last big firestorm that hit San Diego four years ago.
Second, he said, is strong leadership from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and others.
Then there’s the close cooperation among local, state and federal authorities – something that didn’t happen for days or weeks after Katrina.
Others say it has something to do with poverty, politics and race. California is relatively rich and has fewer black residents than most other states, while Louisiana is among the poorest and blackest states.
“I’m from New Orleans, and this place is completely different,” said Dean Beavers, who arrived at Qualcomm on Monday after authorities told him to evacuate his mobile home in rural San Diego County. “There’s a different culture here.”
Help from Denver
Red Cross volunteers in Denver are helping people in Southern California affected by the wildfires.
The Denver Disaster Response Call Center is up and running with an initial team of five agents taking calls from California.
The Denver center went on line in 2004 as the first “remote-access national call center” in the country, said Robert Thompson, director of communications with the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter.
Using databases and the Internet, trained volunteers can field calls and direct those in need to the nearest shelters, meal centers and medical stations that have been set up near the burn areas.
“We help them connect with the resources they need the most at the time” they call, Thompson said. “We can cut the wait time tremendously.”
The Denver center can field up to 18 volunteers at once if needed.
To learn more about Red Cross programs, to sign up for classes, to volunteer or to make a donation, call 303-722-7474 or visit www.denver-redcross.org
– Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post
