FEMA will not airlift evacuees to Missouri

FEMA will not airlift evacuees to Missouri

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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A mini-city set up in an airplane hangar here was prepared to take 2,000 displaced Gulf Coast residents, and offer them everything from medical care and clothes to recreation and Internet access. But now, it will get none.

St. Louis officials said Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has changed course, and decided not to airlift Hurricane Katrina evacuees to Missouri. The state had offered to host 2,500 people.

Officials were disappointed, but proud of how the St. Louis Welcome Center inside an old Boeing hangar at Lambert Airport had come together.

FEMA told the city it was entering its second phase of sheltering people, and trying to place them in more permanent housing, city officials said.

"The good news is the mission has been accomplished," Sam Simon, St. Louis' public safety director, said at a news conference. "We were asked 11 days ago to stand up a facility and prepare for evacuees. We did that."

Last week, Gov. Matt Blunt said he was informed by FEMA that Missouri would receive up to 500 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, a fourth of the original estimate. The welcome center in St. Louis was going to be the evacuees' point of entry for the state.

The plan was for evacuees to have their needs assessed and be referred to agencies in the center, for services ranging from mental health to employment. They were to stay in the mini-city for a few days, then be placed in more permanent housing in Missouri.

Monday's announcement changes all that.

"We were really wanting to help in some way," said Gary Christmann, chief of emergency management in St. Louis.

He said the city would now have to dismantle the center and seek reimbursement for its costs. Last week, Mayor Francis Slay's chief of staff, Jeff Rainford, said the city alone spent $750,000 to develop the center.

Simon said he hopes and prays federal officials made the right decision.

Several attempts to have Department of Homeland Security and FEMA spokesmen explain the abrupt move were unsuccessful. Calls either were not returned or spokesmen said they didn't have answers.

Missouri is still sheltering thousands displaced by the hurricane.

The American Red Cross said Monday it has served at least 8,000 displaced Gulf Coast residents who had come to Missouri on their own. The St. Louis chapter alone has received 2,500 people.

But the temporary welcome center will not be used. Volunteers, government officials and heads of nonprofit agencies had joined forces since Labor Day weekend to transform a vacant, dirty, airport wing into a bright, cheerful mini-city for survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

The center had dormitory-style sleeping areas, a dining room, a 50-bed medical clinic and pharmacy, portable showers, Internet connections, free long-distance telephone service, ball courts and a play area for kids. The 1-million-square-foot facility also had places for gathering, even lounges named after cartoon characters.

Mers Goodwill had placed 50,000 clothing items in the center and committed time, money and volunteer spirit.

Lewis Chartock, the agency's chief executive officer, said whatever the federal decision, local groups gave their all to make the welcome center a model for the nation.

Chartock, a former university professor of social work, said "there were political aspects to the decision to keep people closer" to the Gulf Coast.

"It's not so smart, putting people on planes and sending them to places they didn't even know they were going to," he said.

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On the Net:

Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov/index2.shtm