By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
"These are people in need. Texas is going to do everything in our power to help these individuals - from offering our assistance to offering our prayers."
With that, Gov. Rick Perry today said Texas is opening its borders and its arms to refugees fleeing other Gulf Coast states following massive destruction from Hurricane Katrina. He also announced that Texas would honor the request of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to send a two-week supply of gasoline to that state as it seeks to recover from the aftermath of the storm, and said Texas public schools will be open to provide for the educational needs of out-of-state school-age children of refugee families.
Perry announced that after working with Harris County Judge Bob Eckels, the Houston Astrodome will be made available for refugees from the storm, including the approximately 23,000 who have been stranded in the Louisiana Superdome sports facility in New Orleans since the storm hit.
The governor said he talked to Eckels Tuesday regarding the possibility of turning the Astrodome in Houston into a "long-term shelter" to help meet the housing, food and medical needs of those already stranded in Texas after fleeing the storm and for those refugees expected to be bused to Houston by 500 buses to be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
When the hurricane hit New Orleans, many of the thousands who had not left the city made their way to the Superdome, the 77,000-seat sports facility that is the home of the New Orleans Saints professional football team. The number of refugees quickly swelled into the tens of thousands. The fierceness of the winds from the storm blew portions of the roof off the facility, causing leaks. There is no electricity in the facility and the emergency generators provide only low-level lighting, but not air conditioning. Without water, the sewer system also failed.
"We'll do our part to help them through this tragedy," said Perry of opening the aging Astrodome to refugees. The facility, which used to house Houston's professional baseball and football franchises, is owned by Harris County. The sports franchises moved to a new facility in 2000, leaving the Astrodome for use for a variety of other events.
With the expected move of many of those stranded at the Superdome in New Orleans, said Perry, the need to open the Astrodome to house storm refugees became greater. Eckels agreed and yesterday, said Perry, the Astrodome's schedule of events was cleared until December.
Perry said he expects that probably within the next 24 hours, Houstonians will see individuals arriving by bus from New Orleans. Perry also announced that the Ford Park Convention Center in Beaumont has also being made available as a contingency long-term shelter.
As storm victims take refuge in Texas hotels, resources will run short. "I expect there will be a growing need for shelters," he said, pledging to continue to pursue contingency arrangements.
"We're neighbors and we're going to pull together so these families can see as much normalcy as they can," said Perry. He noted some families had "lost everything" and being available to offer them assistance is important - saying that is especially true for the children of these families.
Noting that these children were "uprooted from their routines" almost overnight, Perry said he wants stranded families to know "the doors of Texas public schools will be immediately open to those children." He cited federal law that allows children in such an emergency situation to enroll in public schools in the areas where they temporarily reside. While it will put an "extraordinary" strain on the state's school capacity, Perry said he has asked officials of the Texas Education Agency to work with school officials to ensure that schools have adequate textbooks for additional students, funding for transporting them, funding for those who qualify for free and reduced lunches and to deal with waivers regarding restrictions on class sizes.
Perry also announced the mobilization of a Medical Taskforce of the Texas National Guard that includes eight doctors, five nurses, 10 physician assistants and 30 combat medics, all of whom are in route to Pineville, La.
Gov. Bush visited with Perry regarding assistance the state of Florida can offer, even though Florida is dealing with its own damages after the hurricane crossed that state. Calling Texas and Florida the "bookends" to the hurricane tragedy, Perry said he and Bush are discussing how the two states can work together to provide assistance to the affected residents of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Because Florida has had its share of tragedy and damage from the hurricane, Perry said Bush had requested at least a two-week supply of gasoline from Texas because of the interruption of production offshore.
Perry said he has asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to "exercise enforcement discretion" as the state allows the loading of fuel in Port Arthur onto vessels for transport to Florida.
"I want Texans to know this will not lead to disruption of Texas' fuel supply," said Perry, noting the fuel distribution to Florida will be monitored to make sure it falls "into acceptable parameters.
"We realize by the grace of God we could be the ones that have this extraordinary need. It could be Houston today that was facing this devastation. These are our neighbors."
Perry said the states would get through the disaster and its aftermath as "one American family."
As Texas was making its pledge of support, the war ship USS Bataan and another Navy ship were already in route to the Central Gulf Coast area with supplies. Both are already serving as launching pads for military search and rescue helicopter units. Four U.S. Navy ships were being dispatched from Norfolk, Virginia, to provide supplies and humanitarian relief for storm refugees. The Navy's hospital ship "Comfort" has also been dispatched. Additionally, eight military swift water rescue boats and teams were flown in from California last night.
Some 8,200 National Guard troops have been activated in Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana and Alabama to help with the relief effort. Troops and equipment from other states are also expected to arrive soon.
Perry was in Houston for the formal signing of SB 7, the eminent domain bill passed during the recently completed Second Called Session of the 79th Texas Legislature. Flanked by bill author Sen. Kyle Janek (R-Houston) and sponsor Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), Perry made it clear that support for the state's border neighbors in Louisiana would take precedence over the bill signing.