California fire victims find refugeIn contrast to the chaos of Katrina, Californians find relief in shelters well stocked with food, water and special comforts Sheldon Alberts
CanWest News Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=d829a8e0-6dc2-48df-af93-53b5bfdafc38&p=2Mark Heinz still has no idea whether his house has been lost to the flames.
He's spent three nights sleeping on a cot in a giant football stadium, surrounded by 10,000 other displaced San Diego residents. To make matters worse, Heinz woke up Wednesday morning with a stiff back.
So what's a southern California fire evacuee do to ease the stress? Heinz opted for a massage and acupuncture.
"What a treat -- this is fantastic," Heinz said as he sat, shirtless, under a tent at Qualcomm Stadium, with an acupuncturist gently rubbing his shoulders.
Call it mass evacuation, southern California style.
Two years after Americans watched tens of thousands of hurricane Katrina evacuees suffer in squalid, violent conditions at the Superdome in New Orleans, they are witnessing a far more successful response to the fire emergency along the California coast.
Facing the worst wildfires in the state's history, up to a million residents from Los Angeles to San Diego have been moved to dozens of shelters that are mostly well-stocked with food, water and bedding.
Nowhere is the contrast between California's response and the deprivation in New Orleans more evident than in the concourses of Qualcomm Stadium, the 50,000-seat home of the National Football League's San Diego Chargers.
Instead of chaos, there was relative calm as evacuees arrived to discover a carnival-like atmosphere that included live music performances, a makeshift pre-school and "Kids Zone," ample stacks of diapers and baby wipes, and food stations offering everything from bagged lunches to chocolate chip cookies and potato chips.
In keeping with southern California's reputation for new-age living,
volunteers had also set up a massage and acupuncture centre, a tent for yoga and meditation and even a station where evacuees could receive reflexology treatments."It definitely gives a lot of relief from stress. People might have pains and aches from sleeping on the cots," said Mohammed Javaherian, an acupuncture instructor from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine,
which was offering its services free of charge. "It's just something we can do to help the people here."
As evacuees milled about, they were entertained by 'Bandit the Biker Dog,' a bulldog who rode a remote-controlled motorcycle around the stadium concourse. A long line of children awaited the opportunity to have their faces painted by a cheerful clown.
"It's great here, with the exception of wanting to be home, wanting to be in our comfort zone, said 32-year-old Kenya Neely, who travelled to Qualcomm Stadium with her three children from fires in east San Diego County.
"It does get cold at night, but we have plenty of blankets and heat lamps. They have showers set up in the parking lot. We have everything you need here."
Several evacuees said they decided to seek shelter at the stadium with some trepidation, remembering the inhumane conditions at the Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Centres following hurricane Katrina.
More than 45,000 New Orleans residents crowded into the two emergency shelters expecting basic relief.
Instead they were trapped without power, food and water for a week after the storm, living amid the stench of human waste and bodies until federal assistance arrived.
California officials say they learned from the New Orleans' lack of preparation, even as they acknowledged the situations are different in many ways.Despite the scope of the evacuation in southern California,
residents had easy access to evacuation centres because most major roadways have remained open.More importantly, they have not had to tackle the enormous logistical challenge that emergency personnel in New Orleans faced because of inescapable floodwaters."There was so much poverty in New Orleans. They didn't have the transportation means anywhere. They were cut off by water. We have been able to get around the freeways," said Heinz, 44, as acupuncturist Michele Ross carefully inserted a therapeutic needle into his neck.
"But I also think the population here is more educated and affluent and reacts in a different way. It's far better organized."Indeed. Government authorities, private corporations and volunteer agencies responded immediately as it became clear hundreds of thousands of southern Californians would be displaced.
At Qualcomm, the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency had set up a tent to handle applications for financial assistance. Two major U.S. wireless companies were providing free cellphone and Internet access for evacuees. A dozen Wal-Mart tractor trailers sat in the parking lot, full of supplies.
With all area schools closed, more than 200 teachers established a makeshift daycare centre where parents could drop off their children while they tended to insurance claims or checked on their homes.
"We are all credentialed, fingerprinted, background checked. The parents know this is a safe place," said Emily Longerbone, a high school teacher and volunteer.
"San Diego has really reacted well, really come together as a community.
Not that New Orleans didn't. I think it was just more chaotic. I think the country learned a lesson. Unfortunately, Katrina had to be the lesson."© The Vancouver Sun 2007
