Reply #90: Probably I used it because I heard it so MANY times. And they [View All]

[pnwmom]

had lost their homes and had taken refuge in the stadium, and in that sense were literally refugees -- people who had taken refuge.

But at the time they were trapped in the stadium in New Orleans, they weren't yet survivors -- some of them were dying! Maybe we can agree that they were victims.

I wonder if during the dust bowl era the term refugee was used. I bet anything they weren't called a politically correct term like "survivors." But you're right -- in this day and age we're certainly used to hearing that word primarily applied to noncitizens. But maybe that's because we've had so few disasters on this scale.