Inclusion Daily Express -- Help Arrives For Some Hurricane Victims

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Help Arrives For Some Hurricane Victims
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 1, 2005

UNITED STATES GULF COAST--Thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors, many with disabilities, were finally transported Thursday from the temporary shelter of the Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the former home of the Houston Oilers football team and the Houston Astros baseball team was being set up much like a city within a city, with areas designated for people who need immediate medical care, and for people with disabilities.

Adrian Ory, 57, arrived Thursday from New Orleans with her daughter Adrian Munguia, 39, who is deaf, and her granddaughter Angel, who uses a wheelchair.

"I was starving," Ory said as she ate a hamburger. "I would have eaten a dead dog."

Many of those who did not make it to the Superdome were still without help Thursday.

The post office in downtown New Orleans became a temporary shelter as 150 people, many in wheelchairs, came inside to get out of the rain. The Chicago Tribune reported that they watched as a steady of bus and truck convoys passed them by on the way to the Superdome. Military men armed with rifles turned back the refugees who begged the drivers to stop and pick them up.

When buses arrived at the Superdome Wednesday, with orders to pick up women, children, seniors, and people with disabilities, more able-bodied refugees climbed aboard, leaving behind amputees, diabetics and seniors with heart conditions.

"It's like it's at your fingertips, if you just stretch out your arm, but you can't do it," said Paula Jackson, a nurse that waited with her 14-year-old daughter, who is paralyzed on one side and requires a feeding bag.

"I don't picture how they can go to the nation telling what great assistance they're giving us. At ground level, ground zero, it's poor, poor, poor service."

Essie Allen, 65, was too exhausted to go anywhere with her friend Willie Jones, 66, who lost his right leg a year ago in a car accident.

"I don't know how we're going to leave because there ain't nobody going to do anything for us," she said.

Disability groups are coming together to lend support to people in the crisis.

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America has set up a hotline for those who are in the immediate are who need help.

Supporters of Centers for Independent Living are encouraged to donate cash to CILs that are affected in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Everyone is being asked to send cash donations to the American Red Cross.

A Website has been established for those seeking help and those offering support and help.

Related:
Katrina Disaster Relief: Information for People with Disabilities and people who want to help them
http://www.katrinadisability.info
Several related articles and resources are listed on today's 'Below the Fold' page:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/05/btf/09010537.htm#katrina

# Check in with other Inclusion Daily Express readers about Hurricane Katrina at our Discussion Board:
http://members5.boardhost.com/InclusionDaily

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