Astrodome Seen as a Comfort Zone

To Babe Williams, one of an estimated 45,000 people who have fled here to escape the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, the dowdy Astrodome is living up to the hype it received 40 years ago when it opened as one of the wonders of the world.

“To me, this is God’s house, this is where he sent me to escape that devil Katrina,” said Williams, 65, who arrived after midnight Thursday with her husband, Leonard, 72, a diabetic.

The Williamses, grief-stricken about the fate of relatives left behind in New Orleans whose whereabouts remain unknown, were aboard one of the first buses arriving here with refugees who had sought sanctuary at the Louisiana Superdome.

That facility is now plagued by unsanitary conditions, oppressive heat, a leaky roof, violence and a shortage of food and water.

The Astrodome took in 11,375 people by late Thursday, when officials decided that was all it could accommodate.

Earlier, officials thought the dome could take 25,000, but they realized as it filled up that it was an unrealistic goal.

Those arriving after the closure were redirected to other centers.

Because of its proximity to New Orleans -- about 350 miles -- Houston has become evacuation central, with the relief effort straining public and private resources.

“It’s a Herculean effort,” said Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, director of the county’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Without mentioning the Superdome by name, officials here assured the arrivals that conditions would be different at the Astrodome.

“They’re in a dry location, they’re in a safe location,” Harris County Fire Marshal Mike Montgomery said.

Largely unused since baseball’s Astros got a new stadium five years ago, the Astrodome has become a massive homeless shelter for Katrina’s victims. Evacuees received food, clothing and cots in an air-conditioned building.

The planned massive bus convoy from the Superdome was slowed by the chaos and violence that has enveloped much of New Orleans.

Evacuees at the Astrodome told of people elbowing each other for seats on the first few buses.

One bus was commandeered by evacuees and driven here. Another driver told of being afraid to stop for people attempting to flag him down. He feared they might hijack the bus.

“We were desperate to get out, it was all very scary,” said Jim Simpson, who fled with his wife and mother. “Katrina was bad, but the criminals preying on their neighborhoods were worse. It made us all desperate to go anywhere, anywhere.”

Some buses stopped to pick up children walking aimlessly, with no parents in sight.

While the Astrodome shelter is the most visible, there are two dozen other shelters run by the Red Cross at churches, schools and other locations in Houston.

New Orleans residents who have cars and credit cards flocked to Houston hotels, which reported high occupancy rates.

Freeway signs -- similar to those used to give information about abducted children -- provided phone numbers for arrivals to get help.

For the Astrodome evacuees, Harris County officials established a medical clinic, a kind of ad-hoc triage, checking for signs of hepatitis and tetanus, both conditions linked to dirty water and lack of sanitation. Fifty people were taken to hospitals after being examined at the Astrodome.

Arrivals were frisked for weapons and drugs. Two guns were seized, officials said.

A phone bank was installed to allow evacuees to try to call relatives. Showers once used by million-dollar athletes were being used by people fleeing the Katrina disaster.

“These are people just like us, just as we were after Allison,” said Eckels, referring to a tropical storm that hit Houston in 2001. “These are our neighbors.”

Dr. Herminia Palacio, executive director for Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, agreed: “These people are our guests from Louisiana.”

Although Harris County officials had long planned on the possible use of the Astrodome as a temporary hurricane shelter, the idea of using it to help a neighboring state came from a discussion this week between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco.

“There but for the grace of God,” Perry said.

Along with buses, Harris County officials are attempting to arrange to bring evacuees here by airplane and train.

The use of the Astrodome has not been without hitches.

As buses were being escorted into the parking lot, New Orleans residents who had driven to the site by themselves were turned away, told they could not stay.

Anger flared briefly.

“We have nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep,” Rhonda Calderon, who arrived with seven other people packed in a Nissan Maxima, told the Houston Chronicle.

Eckels explained later that with the shelter program evolving, no one had developed a plan for “walk-ins.”

Later in the morning, he said the dome was opened to all who arrived and needed help.

Cots with blankets were spread out on the concrete floor. The concessionaire for the nearby convention center and football field will provide hot breakfasts, cold lunches and hot dinners.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) told reporters at the Astrodome that many of the refugees might decide to stay in Texas. He said that he expected as many of 100,000 people to come to Texas because of Katrina.

“We are concerned that people coming here have nothing to go back to,” he said.

For refugees who are staying in hotels, county officials invoked a provision of Texas law that called for the waiver of hotel taxes for anyone staying more than 30 days.

“We do not need these people’s money,” said tax assessor Paul Bettencourt. “They need to spend their money on rebuilding their lives, on education, on healthcare.”

For those at the Astrodome, education officials were lining up teachers and developing a program to bus children to local schools. Theme parks were being asked to volunteer free tickets for the children.

As volunteers scrambled to find supplies for the new arrivals, it remained unclear how many weeks or months the Astrodome might remain open for the refugees.

“This is going to be a long-term process,” said Montgomery, the fire marshal.