Holdouts test military's power of persuasion

With promises of pet shelters and health warnings residents urged to leave New Orleans.

WASHINGTON -- Deep in St. Bernard Parish, just south of New Orleans, a man stubbornly refused to leave his home, insisting he must stay with the only things he had left in the world -- his two bulldogs and eight young puppies. And three friends wouldn't go anywhere without him.

So a Navy crew built a kennel at the nearby base and, with the dogs safely secured, finally persuaded the group to leave their homes. By Wednesday they were headed to a shelter in Texas -- dogs and all, Navy Cmdr. Mark Scovill, captain of the USS Tortuga, said Wednesday.

Unable to enforce the mandatory evacuations being ordered by local governments, the military is getting creative to persuade stubborn residents to leave their sodden, toxic neighborhoods. And for sailors on one Navy ship, that has meant everything from erecting pet shelters and dispensing medicine to biblical pleas and old-fashioned cajoling.

"Everybody's got a reason to stay," said Scovill. "You just have to appeal to whatever logic is keeping them here."

It's a delicate balance because the military troops won't force people to leave their homes.

"If the authorities in the state of Louisiana chose to use their National Guard in a state status that would certainly be permissible and their call," said Gen. Joseph Inge, deputy commander of the Northern Command. "When this turns into a law enforcement issue, which we perceive forced evacuation is, regular troops would not be used."

Won't leave animals behind

So, one winning argument, said Scovill, revolves around people's pets, since many rescuers won't allow residents to take their beloved animals with them.

"The guy didn't have much to begin with and his dogs were more important than anything he had," said Scovill, in a telephone call from his ship. "He would rather stay there and be uncomfortable and miserable with his dogs, than be comfortable without them."

As of Wednesday, sailors from the Tortuga had brought in about 50 pets, including dogs, cats and a few parrots, and put them in the newly built kennel at Naval Station New Orleans. After the pet owners were given food, water, medical attention and some rest, they were reunited with their animals and usually put on buses to shelters that would accepts the pets or to meet up with other family members.

Other people were convinced to leave, Scovill said, after he told them they could use phones and e-mail on the ship to locate families or friends so they wouldn't have to go to distant shelters.

Traveling into the parish in inflatable Zodiac crafts and at times on foot, Navy teams also found more than 15 elderly people at a five-story apartment building who were refusing to leave. They had food and water, and had only heard stories about cramped and uncomfortable conditions at shelters.

Threats from polluted water

Navy officers finally convinced the group to go aboard the Tortuga, after describing the health and infection threats around their homes, and the better shipboard conditions. Several evacuees, Scovill said, had cuts that had gotten badly infected from the polluted water.

Doctors on the ship treated the seniors and filled prescriptions for them.

The Navy has about 10,000 troops responding to the Gulf Coast disaster out of a total active-duty force there of more than 20,000. About 45,000 National Guard troops are there also.