Katrina Evacuees Moving From Shelters
Sep. 16th, 2005 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxEvacuees Moving Out of Shelters
Far from Hurricane Katrina's ruin on the Gulf Coast, Mitchell and Hazel Rodgers are among the first hurricane victims to settle this week into new RV trailers at Wind Creek State Park, across a lake from million-dollar real estate.
The populations of hundreds of Red Cross shelters are dropping daily as families move to temporary housing, some, like the 500 trailer sites at Wind Creek, more permanent than others.
"This is the type of living my wife and I always wanted. Back to Mother Nature," says Mitchell Rodgers, 54, a disabled shipyard worker whose Gulfport, Miss., trailer-park home tipped over and filled with water. "As soon as I can, I'm going to register to vote. I'm not going back to Mississippi."
{...}
Perspective may depend on circumstances. The new arrivals at Alabama's Wind Creek State Park get trailers 28 to 32 feet long; some would cost $40,000.
Red Cross volunteers "are helping me get baby clothes," says Suzanne Hughes, 18, from Kiln, Miss. She's 81/2 months pregnant and waiting for her fiancé to arrive.
"It's a really good community ... families that have kids, and the kids get attached to the atmosphere here," Hughes says.
Police officers patrol the park. Evacuees undergo background checks because the park could be home to 1,000 children. Evacuees are being hired as park workers. Sporting goods companies are donating fishing gear. South Central Bell is putting in phone banks, Dell is offering laptops. Cisco is providing Internet service.
"It would turn you into a Christian, even if you weren't," says Arthur Walker.
