Southland Prepares for Evacuees

By Jennifer Oldham and Wendy Thermos

Sept. 9, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writers

Hundreds of Los Angeles volunteers scraped caked grime from the walls of two warehouses Thursday for Gulf Coast evacuees, even as it became clear that not many of the displaced would make it this far west.

Salvation Army officials who were working to transform two World War II-era buildings totaling 120,000 square feet in Bell into temporary living quarters said they had been told to expect hundreds of evacuees beginning next week.

But a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman said Thursday that Hurricane Katrina victims in shelters throughout the Gulf Coast region have told officials that they wished to stay close to their homes, friends and family.

“Movement of people on a large scale arranged by the government has been put on hold,” said William L. Rukeyser, a FEMA spokesman in Oakland.

“This is a temporary situation that can change from day to day and even hour to hour,” he said. “We are asking states and localities not to undo any of their planning.”

The development surprised some local officials, who said they had been receiving “mixed messages” about how many evacuees might come to Southern California.

“From what we’ve been told, the state and county are still going to send them to us,” said Maj. Paul Seiler, the Salvation Army’s Southern California division chief, referring to word received from Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s office.

“We just want to get them back on their feet and on to a new life,” he said.

At the Bell warehouses, more than 200 volunteers began cleaning with mops, shovels and power washers, as union carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, Hollywood set builders and others pitched in to prepare the site for occupancy by adding showers and kitchen facilities, as well as dividing walls into family cubicles.

Longshoreman David Nash, 32, of Wilmington vigorously attacked the dirty walls with a push broom and talked of “making a dent” in relief efforts.

“If it happens to you, you want to have people look out for you, so you’ve got to give back in return,” Nash said.

Despite FEMA’s decision to scale back evacuations outside the Gulf Coast, city and county lawmakers said they were continuing to search for a minimum of 2,000 beds for hurricane victims.

City officials said they were told by the state Thursday not to expect evacuees for at least a week.

“We’re preparing in the event we are notified evacuees are coming,” said Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “Today, we were told that won’t happen before Sept. 14, if at all.”

Although large groups of Gulf residents have not made their way to Southern California, several dozen of the displaced were expected to come on their own, or with the help of church groups and other charities.

At the Dream Center in Echo Park, which helps the homeless, officials were waiting for 60 evacuees to arrive Thursday night to join 120 hurricane victims now at the center.

The center hopes eventually to help connect evacuees with homes, schools and jobs, said Dave Hanley, an associate pastor. It will hold a job fair this morning at 10 a.m.

“We’re just trying to get anyone who has job openings so we can connect them straight to the people,” Hanley said.

About 200 families have received assistance from the American Red Cross in Greater Los Angeles, said Nick Samaniego, a media relations associate.

As residents throughout the region worked to assist evacuees, 15 officials, including representatives of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the county’s public works and health departments and its office of emergency management, traveled to Houston early Thursday.

“They’re going over there on a mission to restore continuity to the city of New Orleans,” said John Mancha, an inspector with the county’s Fire Department.

County fire employees were working this week with teams from the Los Angeles and Oakland fire departments to search a square-mile area near the Clayborne Bridge in New Orleans where 100 homes were washed off their foundations when 20-foot waves broke through a levee, according to an interdepartmental memo distributed to the City Council and city managers by Villaraigosa’s office.

Six firefighters from the Downey Fire Department -- about 10% of the city’s entire force -- were working in Biloxi, Miss., this week, in conditions they described to colleagues in Southern California as miserable, said Downey Fire Chief Mark Sauter.

“They really feel passionate about going back and helping people,” said Sauter, adding that the firefighters will be in the area for at least 30 days. “The guys here know that filling in behind these guys is one of their ways to contribute.”

Meanwhile, residents, nonprofits and corporations throughout Southern California continued to collect money for Katrina survivors.

The American Red Cross in Greater Los Angeles has raised $16 million to date.

And City Council members Jan Perry and Bernard C. Parks announced that they had collected more than $75,000 for the Salvation Army on Wednesday, when they and other volunteers stood at the curb in front of City Hall and took donations from passing cars.

Other agencies announced upcoming fundraisers, including Goodwill Southern California, which will host a donation drive today and Saturday at 75 sites throughout the region.

The Magic Johnson Foundation will conduct a food and clothing drive from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Magic Johnson Theatres at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

Local companies also got into the act. Sherman Oaks-based Sunkist said it would send 2,000 lemonade stands to children and teenagers ages 7 to 18 who sign up on its website to raise money for charities assisting hurricane victims. The company will match what they earn up to $50,000.

“Kids definitely see the reports on TV and they want to help, but it’s hard if you’re 7 years old,” said Vickie Fite, a company spokeswoman. “This is a simple something -- kids can make lemonade and stand on the street corner.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

How to help

The following agencies are among those providing assistance to hurricane victims:

* Adventist Community Services, (800) 381-7171

* American Red Cross, (800) HELP NOW (435-7669) English, (800) 257-7575 Spanish

* America’s Second Harvest, (800) 771-2303

* Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org

* Catholic Charities USA, (800) 919-9338

* Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, (800) 848-5818

* Church of Scientology, (800) 435-7498, www.volunteer ministers.org

* Church World Service, (800) 297-1516

* Convoy of Hope, (417) 823-8998