c. 2005 Religion News Service
HOUSTON _ On Labor Day, I was appointed the American Jewish Committee’s Hurricane Katrina Emergency Services director. Less than 48 hours later I arrived in Houston, the temporary residence of nearly 250,000 evacuees, mostly from New Orleans.
In recent years the AJC has provided both needed assistance and constructive long-term projects in many parts of the world whenever a disaster occurs, including the recent Asian tsunami and earthquakes. The response to Katrina from AJC members and supporters has been immediate and generous.
The print and electronic media have done an excellent job describing this natural disaster, but it was much more harrowing to visit the Houston Astrodome filled with Katrina victims. Even television cannot capture the human pain because viewers only see a small rectangular picture. Being inside the Astrodome provides a 360-degree view of reality.
The huge stadium, built in the 1960s, is a dreary neglected sports palace that was once the pride of Houston but no longer hosts athletic events or rodeos. The Astrodome’s red cushioned seats are cracking, the lighting in the ramp areas is poor and the instant impression upon entering is “arena fatigue.”
But unlike the New Orleans Superdome during Katrina, the Astrodome offers food, is dry and safe (Texas National Guard troops and local police were on duty). About 7,000 evacuees, nearly all African-Americans, occupied much of the playing area as well as the old press boxes, and the many nooks and corners of a tired building whose glory days are long gone.
The Astrodome may now be having its greatest hours as a refuge for nursing infants, confused youngsters, bored teenagers, stunned adults and bewildered elderly. They are the sick, frightened, frail, ailing, traumatized and oh so patient victims of Katrina and the devastating levee break in New Orleans.
Houston, led by Mayor Bill White and State Representative Rick Noriega, has been magnificent in opening its public facilities, schools, homes, synagogues, churches, hospitals, health and dental clinics, pharmacies and counseling services to the evacuees Houstonians call “New Neighbors.”
Nonetheless, visiting the Astrodome was a depressing and sobering experience. The sight of thousands of cots immediately overwhelmed me. Many evacuees placed two or three large plastic garbage bags under their makeshift beds; the bags contain all their personal possessions. The condition of what they left behind in New Orleans is unknown.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Manhattan, thousands of photographs quickly appeared throughout the city with captions asking for information about missing loved ones. But there were no pictures of the missing at the Astrodome. Many evacuees do not own cameras, and if they did, the cameras and precious photo albums are in flooded New Orleans.
Instead, countless handwritten appeals containing the names of the missing were posted in the Astrodome. One evacuee’s sign seeking a family member’s whereabouts listed her “residence:” a numbered section and seat of the Astrodome. The effort to find a loved one ended with: “I am blind.”
Nearly 1,400 other evacuees were at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, a newer and brighter facility. Jose Soto, a member of Mayor White’s staff, was a superb guide. He said Houston was tapping into other budget line items _ so far about $10 million _ to cover the emergency costs. Happily, the evacuees are quickly leaving the Astrodome and Convention Center. They are moving in with family, friends, or are being provided other housing.
A final word: I personally witnessed two significant Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) failures on the ground. More than 5,000 people patiently stood in a half-mile long line outside the Astrodome in 94-degree heat to obtain $2,000 FEMA debit cards that, ultimately, were never distributed.
After the Astrodome visit, I attended a poignant meeting with members of the dispersed New Orleans Jewish community. To everyone’s disappointment, the promised FEMA official did not appear to provide the group with vitally needed information about assistance and aid.
MO END RNS
(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.)
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