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SHELTERS PREP FOR ARRIVALS

By Larry Ault/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 9:49 AM CDT

Jefferson County officials are bracing for another influx of Hurricane Katrina refugees who are being moved from Houston because of the threat of Hurricane Rita. Hundreds of refugees are expected to arrive today and/or Thursday.

The first wave of as many as 260 or more people could be arriving in the area as early as today, said Trey Ashcraft of Pine Bluff, who works with the state Department of Homeland Security as a liaison with the office of Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Jefferson County officials were unable to predict how many people would be sent to the United Pentecostal Church's Arkansas District Campground at Redfield.

"We have not had any word on that," said Debbie Price, an office worker at the camp. "We may know tomorrow," she added.

"Our capacity is 300. We already have 40 people," Ashcraft said of the Pine Bluff center. The state's first wave of about 1,700 new refugees was expected to arrive by commercial airline Tuesday at Fort Chaffee, and today an additional 2,222 people are expected, Ashcraft said.

"The Arkansas National Guard is processing them," he said.

Ashcraft said the refugees will be detained at Fort Chaffee as long as 48 hours while Arkansas officials determine where they will be sent.

Ashcraft said Huckabee intends to meet with Arkansans involved in housing the refugees today "to talk about this." The Red Cross shelter at the Pine Bluff Convention Center was expected to shut down operations Tuesday, but the situation changed and Ashcraft said the Pine Bluff shelter will remain open.

The Red Cross opened the shelter at the convention center when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, but the state later took over management of the shelter while Red Cross volunteers and personnel manned the shelter and provided assistance. Ashcraft speculated the new group of refugees will be "very similar to the ones we have remaining." He said efforts are being made to help the refugees relocate to permanent homes.

"These people are coming in much better condition," Ashcraft said of the new wave. "You've got a real mixed bag," he said, referring to the refugees. "Some are just waiting until they get back to New Orleans. We're not a permanent shelter. Our role is to provide immediate needs."

He said the state intends to reimburse the Pine Bluff Convention Center for its cost, which has been estimated at as much as $1,000 a day. "The state is paying those bills," Ashcraft said.

Staying "in constant contact with the Red Cross," he said that operations will increase and volunteers will return to the Pine Bluff shelter when the new evacuees arrive.

Bettye Johnson, public information spokesman for the Jefferson County Chapter of the American Red Cross, said one of the sleeping areas in a banquet hall at the center was dismantled and cleaned and then later set up with more cots. Johnson said the number of people spending the night at the shelter dwindled down to around 30, but the number eating was around 200 people.

Elsewhere in the Convention Center, there were signs that it was in the process of being shut down Tuesday.

In the arena, where Red Cross volunteers were preparing a noon meal for a few people who remained, an electronic sign in the arena said, "The last meal served here by the Red Cross will be Tuesday -- noon." Bob Myers, a Red Cross volunteer, said the volunteers had heard differing stories about the prospect of more evacuees.

"We keep hearing the story more are coming, as many as 300," Myers said, noting that more cots are being set up for the Houston refugees.

"Nobody knows," Bob Purvis, executive director of the Pine Bluff Convention Center, said Tuesday. "Houston is trying to unload everybody they are taking care of."

Purvis said, "At the earliest, it will be tomorrow (today)" because of the time needed to physically transport the refugees from Houston to locations in Arkansas.

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