FEMA and the Red Cross are obviously “making it up as they go along” in regards to Katrina relief efforts, not that I blame them. As everyone has been saying over and over, the situation is unprecedented. The Red Cross shelter near us at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church has been serving over 300 storm victims all this week. From their website:
Late Friday night we were suddenly informed that the American Red Cross, FEMA, and the authorities charged with managing the national response to the Katrina disaster had made the difficult decision to close the community based shelters in the Houston area and consolidate relief efforts and resources at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. Our dedicated shelter team, the local Red Cross folks and our staff shared our frustration and tears over this abrupt change in direction. In the past few days we had been told to plan for as little as a week or two of sheltering to as long as 3 months. Our community has responded with overwhelming generosity, bringing our shelter up to speed as one of the finest very quickly. By the grace of God and through the generosity of the community we have provided housing, meals, material needs and care for nearly 400 resident guests and over 1,000 other displaced people in the last week. Consolidating shelters will permit the available resources to be managed and deployed more effectively.
Eldest Daughter and I were discussing this decision this afternoon. It seemed to both of us that community-based efforts where individuals could connect with individuals instead of being “warehoused” in the Astrodome or another convention center were preferable. In fact, I would expect the Red Cross officials to be encouraging families to house families and churches to house families so that the larger facilities could be cleared as soon as possible. But, as I told my daughter, I have no expertise or experience in the area of crisis or disaster relief, so I defer to those who do. I understand wanting to make sure that everyone receives the services they need. Anyway, it seems that the Red Cross changed their minds:
Updated 9/3 at 9:05PM: Just as the school busses provided by CCISD rolled in this morning to transfer our shelter residents, we received new information from the crisis management officials. We were “turned back on” and asked to immediately prepare for the return of our guests and the addition of more. So as of this evening we are at our current shelter capacity and our guests are enjoying 400 lbs. of fine Texas Bar-B-Q!.
Did anyone ask the peo0ple from Louisiana what they would prefer to do? Are they still free citizens with the right to make their own decisions? Churches helping refugees to survive and get back on their feet, this is what we need. At least, it seems so to me. But I’m no expert.