New Home Away From Home; Hurricane Evacuees Arrive in Utah
LAST UPDATE: 9/5/2005 9:00:13 PM Watch Video (ABC 4 News/AP) -- After days of suffering on the streets of New Orleans, the first evacuee from Hurricane Katrina arrived in Utah Saturday evening to open arms are smiles. More than 150 refugees were aboard the Jet Blue flight which touched down at the Utah Air National Guard Base just after 7 p.m. They were greeted with applause and handshakes from National Guard officials, local religious leaders and representatives of the governor's office.
When the floods after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Phillip Clay and his 87-year-old mother swam and walked their way to shelter at the Louisiana Superdome. Saturday they walked off an airplane to a temporary life in Utah. "I'm happy to be in Utah," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the tarmac at the Air National Guard base in Salt Lake City. "I had to swim, walk through water neck high... It's devastating." Like thousands from New Orleans, Clay, 48, lost everything last week -- his house, car and other possessions. He doesn't know when he'll go back, or if he'll have his job at the Superdome when he returns. Clay was among the 150 refugees who arrived in Salt Lake Saturday on the chartered Jet Blue airliner out of Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans. He and his mother were airlifted by helicopter from the Superdome to the airport and thought they were bound for San Antonio. Travel plans were changed mid-flight, routing evacuees here. Refugee Beverly Pugh said it didn't really matter to her where the plane landed. "Not the way we was living, not in the conditions were in," the 40-year-old chef said. Pugh who, along with seven others from her neighborhood, was rescued by a friend with a boat, said she spent the last four days sleeping on the floor at the New Orleans convention center. "It was awful," she said. Now she's hoping to begin to rebuild a life and reconnect with her two sons, ages 20 and 22, from whom she was separated in the aftermath of the disaster. The plane carried families and individuals of all ages, including about 30 people over age 65 and 15 people who were using wheelchairs. Evacuees were first given a health screening, followed by food and water, National Guard Lt. Col. Kurt Davis said. At least one person was immediately transported to LDS Hospital for additional medical attention, hospital spokesman Jeff Gomez said. Five buses were standing by to transport the group to the National Guard's Camp Williams where they will be temporarily housed. Three additional planes from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast were expected late Saturday night or Sunday, Davis said. Each of the KC-135 guard planes will be carrying 50 evacuees, bringing the expected total number of about 300. Gov. Jon Huntsman has said Utah could shelter up to 2,000 evacuees. The governor has declared a state of emergency in Utah, allocating $5 million to cover the costs of emergency operations here. Huntsman also sent a letter to President Bush, asking for a federal emergency designation, which if signed could ensure Utah is reimbursed for its expenses from federal disaster relief funds. State and local officials are setting up an emergency services center at Camp Williams, so evacuees can access counseling, religious support, get clothing, health care, child care and employment services. The Jordan School District is also working to get any children evacuated enrolled in local schools. Also on Saturday, the national Best Friends Animal Society, based in Kanab, Utah, said they were working with animal control officers in the New Orleans area to collect stray and abandoned animals. The animals will be taken to St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Miss., Best Friends spokeswoman Barbara Williams said. Best Friends members across the country are offering to give the animal shelter homes and every effort will be made to reunite families with their pets, she said. Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday gathered at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims. Plastic bags were stuffed with toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, soap, washcloths and hand towels. The supplies will be shipped to a church-owned storehouse Georgia for distribution. In New Orleans, military planes descended one by one upon the damaged Louis Armstrong Airport. As one helicopter landed to bring evacuees to safety, another took off. A long line of evacuees waited on the tarmac to board any plane to safety. Just outside the airport, a cement factory showed the force of the hurricane that hit this city a week ago. While one tower stood firm, the other collapsed from the wind. The rooftops of almost all of the airport buildings were torn and their pieces scattered on the ground. Fifteen soldiers from the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces Group 1st Battalion arrived in the flooded city Saturday afternoon, joining 20 other Guard members who landed in New Orleans on Friday. The soldiers deployed on Saturday are specially trained in water rescues and will assist in the massive search-and-rescue effort throughout New Orleans. The group brought with them Zodiac boats, kayaks and scuba gear. They were expected to be in the city for at least two weeks. "We feel really anxious to go in and help out," said Utah sergeant named Holmes, who declined to give his first name. "It's a huge tragedy." Just outside the airport, thousands waited to catch a flight out of the city. There was a man with no shoes or shirt; his arm wrapped in a bandage. A few feet away, a woman walked up and down the long line of refugees in a panic, shouting "Bernice!" One by one, people keep coming up to military personnel on the other side of the gate asking for help. Water bottles and trash littered the road. Some sat on suitcases, others on the ground. The entire baggage claim center of the airport had been turned into a triage area. Hundreds of people, the elderly and some with minor injuries, waited for a place to go. Utah Sgt. Maj. Gary Johnson said his group was told to prepare themselves because mayhem reigns just outside the airport. It was pitch black Saturday night, although smoke from fires burning in the city could be seen from all directions.
Evacuees from New Orleans arrived on Sunday and have continued to come to Utah, utilizing the facilities at Camp Williams, the training facility for the Utah National Guard, to house the incoming people.  Flights from New Orleans to Salt Lake City International Airport provided by JetBlue Airways under a contract from FEMA have been shuttling people from New Orleans to many destinations throughout the United States, including Utah.  

In addition, Utah Air National Guard relief missions transporting food and other supplies to New Orleans relief efforts have also been returning with people in the cargo areas of the airplanes on return flights.   "In keeping with our mission to assist in the security and safety of our homeland, we stand trained, ready, and able to respond to the call to assist our fellow citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and elsewhere," said Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, Utah National Guard Adjutant General.

The people on board the airplanes had no idea where they were going.  In one case the airplane was headed to San Antonio and at the last minute while still airborne the destination was changed to Utah.   Peter Coroon, Salt Lake County Mayor: "Some of the people look dazed. Some of them are just happy to be out of where they were. Some of them are eager to find their loves ones they've been separated. Some of them weren't sure where they were going when they left New Orleans." 

Governor John Huntsman, Jr. utilized surplus state funds by declaring a state of emergency to begin efforts housing and clothing people coming to Utah, however some of this will likely be reimbursed by the Federal Government at a later date.  He announced that Utah was willing to take up to 1,000 people at shelters in Utah, and that amount was later increased to over 2,000.  On Monday, President Bush signed an executive order granting the emergency declaration in Utah to provide Federal assistance for the evacuees in Utah.

After arriving in Utah, one evacuee said "I want to thank the people of Utah for their hospitality and for restoring my faith in America."  Another evacuee said "it seems like heaven, looking at the mountains and getting a breath of fresh air and saying, 'Thank God we made it.'"

Not all evacuees were pleased with the move to Utah.  "I knew where Utah was, but nobody told me that's where we were going. Nothing personal. It's nice. But I don't know anybody here," said Bergeron, among the first batch of 152 evacuees to arrive at the Camp Williams Utah Army National Guard training site.

The Utah chapter of the American Red Cross has been training volunteers over the Labor Day weekend, and according to one official they have been overwhelmed with community support to help the evacuees.  The line of volunteers to receive the training helping those at Camp Williams was litterally out of the door at the Red Cross offices today.  One volunteer, Kayelynn Wright said, "The last couple of days we’d talked about it and said, 'What can we do?' So when I saw it (a call for volunteers) last night, I called (my neighbor) this morning and said, 'We gotta go!'" The Red Cross has asked that you contact the local office if you plan on volunteering or donating any new clothing and other items to help the evacuees.

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday gathered at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims.  Plastic bags were stuffed with toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, soap, washcloths and hand towels. The supplies will be shipped to a church-owned storehouse Georgia for distribution. 

Transportation requests are also being honored by the Utah state government, and evacuees are having transportation to anywhere in the United States paid for at state expense.  In addition, a small amount of extra money is being donated directly to each family to help with immediate expenses.  The Utah Transit Authority has already established a regular municipal bus service between Camp William and downtown Salt Lake City, which will begin formal service starting tomorrow morning.