guess they don't want to come to iowa
State's cots may go empty
Evacuees in Astrodome say no to Iowa; DMC officials prepare.
By JAMES BELTRAN
The Associated Press
DES MOINES The airplanes are ready and the housing available, but Hurricane Katrina evacuees apparently don't want to move to Iowa.
Gov. Tom Vilsack said the state was prepared to accept about 1,000 hurricane victims Tuesday, but they decided to remain in the Houston Astrodome and consider their options.
"They're tired, they're frustrated," Vilsack said Tuesday evening from the Capitol. "They're separated from their families, so we're going to give them a breather and see where we are tomorrow."
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will contact Vilsack and other governors this morning to update them on any changes, Vilsack said.
The governor estimated about 40 evacuees have trickled into Iowa since Hurricane Katrina hit last month, but there are no guarantees the refugees in Texas will ever step on the plane.
"We don't know, at this point, where we're headed," Vilsack said. "It changes from hour to hour."
Meanwhile, about 1,000 green canvas cots remain empty in long rows in the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Forty Iowa National Guard soldiers spent the night setting up the nearly 1,000 cots, said Brig. Gen. Mark Zirkelbach.
"They worked all night to get this thing together ... so we can be good to go today," he said.
Should any disaster victims make their way to the fairgrounds, their stay will be brief it will serve as a holding area before the American Red Cross moves evacuees elsewhere.
If any are moved to southeast Iowa, Barb Baker, director of the Des Moines County Health Department, said she will be prepared and expects a coordinated relief effort.
"I would like any organization that is bringing families into Des Moines County to let the health department know that they're coming in," she told the Des Moines County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. "We would like to be part of the group that greets these folks. I would like to have names, addresses, birth dates, previous addresses, current addresses and then possibly where the individuals have been housed between when the hurricane hit and when they reached Burlington."
Baker wants to establish a central location where representatives from agencies such as the health department, the Iowa Department of Human Services, Social Security, Women and Infant Children, local schools and Community Action can help.
"This way, the families can be brought to one location, give all that demographic information once," she said. "Then, we service organizations can share that information and work with the families to get enrollment into the different programs."
Two area churches, one from Des Moines County and the other from Lee County, were expecting 55 people from New Orleans to arrive by bus over the weekend, Baker said. She didn't name the churches.
Residents prepared to open their home to evacuees can call the Iowa Concerned hot line at 18004471985, said Steve Cirinna, emergency management coordinator for Lee County.
Illinois is prepared to provide housing, food and medical care to up to 10,000 hurricane evacuees.
Centers have been set up at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport near Mascoutah and at the Greater Rockford Airport.
Rockford is ready for about 200 evacuees, said John Strandin, communications coordinator for the city.
"The phones have been ringing off the hook with people saying they'd like to take in a family or that they have space in their apartment buildings," he said. "The outpouring from the community has been tremendous."
In Peoria, nearly 300 volunteers waited at a civic center Tuesday to provide medical screening, food and clothing to hurricane victims. But they were sent home after city officials said the earliest the evacuees wouldn't arrive until today.
James Quirk Jr. and Aimee Tabor of The Hawk Eye and Associated Press writers Sarah Freeman in Chicago, Jan Dennis in Peoria and Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this report.
