Arkansans prepare for Gustav
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2008
Ron Del Pup prepared Friday for the call that he expects to lead him deep into Louisiana to help victims of Hurricane Gustav.
Volunteering for American Red Cross is old hat for the Fayetteville retiree who believes he’s helped following more than 30 hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters over the past decade.
He’s just back from helping flood victims near Harlingen, Texas, where he delivered meals to people in emergency shelters.
“It was nice,” said Del Pup, 74. “There were no cell phones, because the cell towers were down, and we worked like hell. It was gratifying.” Now, Del Pup and others in Arkansas are preparing for Gustav. Arkansas expects to play a key role in the response to it.
Louisiana residents were reserving rooms Friday in Little Rock and south Arkansas hotels as 35 Arkansas National Guard soldiers prepared to leave today for Camp Beauregard in Pineville, La. Four or five airmen from the Arkansas Guard’s 154 th Weather Flight will be with them.
Nine Guardsmen left Friday for the 30-day stay.
Northwest Arkansas entities prepared to help even though many aren’t sure yet what role they’ll play.
American Red Cross spokesman Robin Dorf said the Northwest Arkansas chapter told volunteers like Del Pup they are likely to be needed, but they can’t predict where they’ll be sent.
They’ve started contacting people with churches and other organizations in a 19-county area who’ve expressed a willingness to make their buildings available if evacuees come to Northwest Arkansas, she said. Of the 15, 000 evacuees who came to Arkansas because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, hundreds of them arrived at the Arkansas Baptist Assembly, a church camp south of Siloam Springs.
“We have not been contacted at all,” said Pat Batchelor, the Arkansas Baptist Assembly’s camp director who received about 600 Katrina evacuees.
The storms caused 150 Louisiana students to enroll in the Siloam Springs School District, and about 35 are still with the district, said Superintendent Ken Ramey.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe authorized $ 250, 000 from the state’s emergency response fund Friday to help. He said he’s communicated with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
“I’ve told Gov. Jindal that Arkansas is ready to help, and we’re keeping everyone in our thoughts as we track Gustav in the coming days,” Beebe states in a news release.
Capt. Chris Heathscott of the Arkansas National Guard said the Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center near Fort Smith has been identified as a temporary emergency shelter for up to 4, 000 evacuees. It’s possible that it will receive evacuees as early as today, Heathscott said.
Arkansas entered into an agreement with Louisiana to take in up to 4, 000 evacuees, who would be housed at Fort Chaffee, said Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson.
“Gov. Beebe has instructed state agencies to be very proactive,” Jackson said. “We’re ready to manage and coordinate things if it gets to that point. We hope we don’t have to, but we’re ready.” In Fayetteville, the Clarion Inn didn’t have any of its 197 rooms available tonight because of the University of Arkansas home football game, but it dropped its rate to $ 45 a night for storm evacuees who arrive Sunday or later, said Kate Moll, the hotel’s guest services manager. The rooms sell for $ 90 most nights, but it hadn’t received calls from evacuees needing a place to stay by Friday afternoon.
“We’re going to do everything we can,” Moll said.
Hotels rooms in central and south Arkansas were being reserved rapidly by Louisianians who expected to evacuate this weekend.
“I’m starting to hear the disappointment in people’s voices,” said Selynda Mcadoo, who manned the front desk Friday at Camden’s Comfort Inn. “I’m telling them they’ll either have to have a stroke of luck with a cancellation or that they’ll have to go north of Little Rock.” By Friday afternoon, Garland and Pulaski counties’ hotels were fielding hundreds of calls from Louisiana residents, all of them on an increasingly desperate quest for rooms.
In Fayetteville, much has changed with the city-owned building that served as a distribution center in 2005 where hurricane evacuees received food, clothing and other supplies. After the center closed, electrical power was shut off, and an electrical transformer as well as the building’s fire suppression system were removed, said Susan Thomas, a city spokesman.
“From a practical standpoint, a lot of work would need to take place for it to be used that way again,” Thomas said. “We don’t know yet whether they’ll need that kind of help. Is it Category 5 ? Are the levies going to break again ? The sense of urgency from this far of a distance isn’t going to come together until the emergency happens.” The Red Cross on Friday was encouraging people who have family members in Gulf Coast states to establish systems now to ensure that evacuees aren’t responsible for contacting many different family members who live elsewhere. The best system allows the evacuees to contact one family member and to have that family member notify other relatives about how the evacuation is going, Dorf said.
“It allows the evacuees to focus on getting themselves out,” Dorf said.
In Bentonville, Bryan Koon, senior operations manager in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ’s emergency management department, has tracked Gustav for more than a week. The company has been in touch with emergency management agencies in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi to “make sure we understand their plans and they understand our plans.” “It’s one of the lessons from Hurricane Katrina,” Koon said. “It takes a public-private partnership.” One of the more visible things the company does, Koon said, is stock Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores with high-demand products like bottled water, flashlights, batteries, gasoline cans, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Wal-Mart distribution centers in the Southeast have space allocated for extra disaster supplies because restocking may not be possible.
“We want to be available as a resource for the community as long as possible before the storm starts,” he said. But the company doesn’t want employees in harm’s way. “It’s a balancing act.” The Bentonville operations center will have 50 to 60 people handling telephone calls from employees, store managers, government agencies and non-company groups. Salvation Army and Red Cross personnel will be at Wal-Mart headquarters on Sunday to serve as liaisons between the company and their agencies’ field personnel.
“We’ve ruined a lot of Labor Day weekend plans,” he said.
Serena Howard, who started www. openyourhome. com two days after Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, relied on Fayetteville’s help and the Mexican Original plant as the location for its service.
Howard, who was living in Pea Ridge at the time, drew national attention for her effort that matched 7, 000 evacuees with people across the nation who had space for guests in their homes. The Web site wasn’t functioning properly on Friday, but she expected to have it operating today.
“We’ll do anything we can this time, too,” said Howard, who now lives in Tulsa. Information for this article was contributed by Cathy Frye and Steve Painter of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Associated Press.
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