 Above photo by Brian Hawkins/SDN Left photo by Becky Wilkes/For the SDN Jay Walsh of Meraux, La., grills pork chops and sausage while he and his family members, all of whom evacuated from St. Bernard Parish southeast of New Orleans, await word on the impact of Hurricane Gustav on their community By BRIAN HAWKINS
Starkville Daily News
As many as 1,000 evacuees from Hurricane Gustav may be staying in Starkville and Oktibbeha County, officials estimate.
Local hotels and motels were reporting near-total occupancy to local American Red Cross officials Monday morning, with “sparse” numbers of rooms available.”
“From what we’ve been able to see, most of them have come from Louisiana,” said Carol Moss Read, chair of the board of directors for the Oktibbeha County chapter of the Red Cross. “We’ve gotten a few from the Mississippi Coast.”
At the Mississippi Horse Park, several families who fled Gustav packed up in campers and recreational vehicles and came there, said Manager Bricklee Miller on Monday.
“I’ve still got people on their way to stay here because we’ve got the RV hookups,” Miller said. “Many are bringing animals with them, too. We’ve got horses, ponies, pigs, coats, dogs, cats, rabbits and a bird here with some families. Most of the larger animals — including some dogs — are being kept in the stables.”
Miller said she was at the Horse Park office until after 10 p.m. Sunday fielding calls from evacuees, giving directions and “just seeing if there was anything we could do for them.”
“We’ve had some leave to go further north out of fear that bad weather may hit here, but all are waiting to see when they might be able to go back,” Miller said.
The waiting game
The Antill and Walsh families of St. Bernard Parish, La., southeast of New Orleans were among the evacuees awaiting word on their homes. The families, who were staying in their campers at the Mississippi Horse Park, had brought plenty of food with them, emptying all their deep freezers and refrigerators before hitting the road.
“We lost everything once in Katrina, and we hope we don’t lose everything again,” said Adeline Walsh, who lives in Ponchatoula, La.. “Our parish was underwater.”
“We’re wondering if we’ll have a home to come back to,” said Keith Antill.
The families spent more than 17 hours on the road after leaving their homes at 9 a.m. Sunday, arriving in Starkville between 12:30 and 1 a.m. Monday, said Jay Walsh of Meraux, La., as he grilled pork chops, sausage and hamburgers outside the camper where family members had gathered mid-afternoon Monday.
“We were moving about 40 mph, but there was a lot of stop and go, stop and go. Around Meridian, there were some points where people would be stopped for 20 minutes or more. There were people getting out of their cars to walk their dogs,” Walsh said.
Walsh recalled the scene upon returning home following the devastation caused by Katrina.
“I had a 25-foot boat and it was on top of my house,” he said. “Down the street, the slab of another house had been moved to the other side of the street.”
Red Cross responds
As Gustav moved into the northern Gulf of Mexico, Red Cross officials opened a shelter for evacuees Sunday night at First Baptist Church’s Outreach Center in South Jackson Street.
Some 10 evacuees spent the night there Monday, while around 20 were registered to sleep there Tuesday night, said Becky Wilkes, Red Cross executive director.
Red Cross volunteers are operating a feeding center for hurricane evacuees at the First United Methodist Church Christian Life Center on Lampkin Street across from Welch Funeral Home.
Seventy-four people were served lunch and 91 people were served dinner at the feeding center on Monday.
Meals at the Red Cross feeding center are being served according to the following schedule:
• Breakfast, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.
• Lunch, Noon to 1 p.m.
• Dinner, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The local Red Cross chapter is not authorized to give any disaster assistance funding to evacuees at the current time, only shelter care and feeding, Read said.
“No money will be available unless a disaster assessment team is dispatched here to begin operations,” Read said.
Supplies for evacuees are plentiful, and residents wanting to make donations to assist evacuees are encouraged to make monetary gifts to the Red Cross chapter, which is currently footing the bill for all shelter and feeding operations, Read said.
“Giving money is really the best way people can help because we will be able to purchase what we need at a given time,” Read said. “Any supply donations would have to be routed through a clearinghouse in Jackson.”
Monetary gifts may be made to the local Red Cross chapter by calling the office at 323-4621 or by stopping by the shelter at First Baptist or the feeding center at First Methodist. The Red Cross office is located at the 501 Business Centre on Highway 12 West.
Monetary gifts may also be made to the Salvation Army, which also has a local office at the 501 Business Centre.
MSU campuses not affected by storm
Mississippi State University’s Crisis Action Team has been monitoring the storm situation, and no threat is anticipated for the campus, according a post on the university’s emergency response Web site Monday.
“The Crisis Action Team will continue to monitor conditions. Students and employees are urged to use common sense and to assess conditions before traveling,” the MSU Web site stated.
“All university offices will be open Tuesday and classes will meet as scheduled, but faculty members are urged to work with students who live in threatened areas.”
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