Houston Astrodome: FULL

[Joebert]

Buses sent away to "somewhere else" as they are not taking any more people

This live on CNN: Aaron Brown reporting.

More to come on this I'm sure...


Update: "No more evacuees in to the Astrodome per Fire Marshall"

Update: "10:30 this evening, advised that capacity reached, buses diverted to other cities and shelters."

Update: Now on breaking news banner at www.cnn.com

[Fridays Child]

1. And tomorrow was to be the big day for receiving evacuees there.

WTF?

[lebkuchen]

2. Aren't there radios on the buses to communicate information

so that the travel time can be expedited?

[merci_me]

17. My understanding is

that yesterday, they added space in both Dallas and SanAntonio. By spreading it out, the conditions will be much more tolerable, rather than overcrowding and having people sleeping in the stands, instead of having individual cots. Also, the Astrodome only has 85 showers. I think maybe once Dallas and SanAntonio were added, it was good to use the extra facilities, especially early on, when tempers are short and people need some space and time.

Finally, Houston is on the way to Dallas and SanAntonio, so it isn't adding needless travel. Also, I've seen reports of it being 12 hours of travel to Houston. I don't know where the extra 6 hours is being used, maybe logging in, but I've made the trip by car many times and it's 6 hours. I can't imagine a bus would add another six hours, since it's not a "site-seeing' stop at restaurants type of trip.

[stillcool]

23. Those buses arrived there tonite....

..and were told there was no more room. There is no excuse for any of this shit.

[rooboy]

3. Send them to Tom Delay's house and tell them to help themselves. n/t

[Fridays Child]

10. On another thread, Crawford is being suggested.

Poster said they need a vacation.

[goforit]

47. Or how about 1600 Pennsylvania. and the Jeb Bush Mansion.

[JoFerret]

56. ...after all that brush

has been so carefully cleared. Just right for a tent city.

[bluestateguy]

4. This is criminal negligence

n/t

[Erika]

5. Link?

[rooboy]

11. It was a live report on CNN's Aaron Brown. n/t

[thecrow]

13. It was just on CNN

[Rhiannon12866]

30. None yet. This was the banner headline on LBN e-mail alert:

Officials at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, say the facility is full and cannot accept any more New Orleans hurricane refugees.

Not on website yet:
http://edition.cnn.com/

[thecrow]

6. WTF????!!!???!!!!?????????

WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF
:wtf:
Who is running this show?

[Boxerfan]

7. Just on CNN ASTRODOME TURNING AWAY BUSLOADS OF SURVIVORS

This is horrid!
I can't believe they are turning the buses back after what was reported to be a 12 hour drive & THEY ARE TURNING THEM AWAY!!!
WTF!?!?!Where are these poor people to go & they have BARELY STARTED THE EVACUATION!

Time to march the streets folks-This is UNACCEPTABLE!

[jean]

8. we can hope there are some gutsy reporters tagging along with the

bus caravan - I wish a few could get into the buses and take testimony from those poor victims

[agates]

9. I'm speechless!

Unfuckingbelievable!!!

I thought Aaron Brown was going to explode. Oh my god.

[rwheeler31]

12. This is disgusting,

they do not plan for anything.

[boddhi]

14. this is insane

where did they think they were going to put 24,000?

wtf

the fire marshall shut them down

yup - we're ready for a major catastrophe shrub

[ticapnews]

15. CNN reporter on site...

"Let's be clear, FEMA is overseeing this oversized shelter"

I remember when FEMA was run by competent people. How long ago was it?

Oh yeah, five years...

:cry: :nuke:

[Fleshdancer]

16. GOD DAMN IT

This is bullshit. What about the breezeways? The VIP rooms? The locker rooms? anything? Is it impossible to move some rows of seats so that people can put cots down??

[ticapnews]

18. The Red Cross was expecting most of the refugees to arrive tomorrow!

According to CNN the Astrodome has about 8000 people in it now.

:wtf:

[Beausoir]

19. GODDAMMIT!!!!!

How much more can these people take?

Those mothers..with small babies. How much more can they take?

[kskold]

20. overcrowding is a good idea, then?

And what's supposed to happen if you accept so many people that you just recreate the chaos and crime the stadium in New Orleans is facing? If, as it sounds, they're sending the buses on to other stadiums, then I think this is the best choice they have right now. Overwhelming the facility to the point that it's also uninhabitable would be the crime here.

[Occulus]

21. Would the situation in NOLA be so damn chaotic

if the people there had dry-land access to food and water?

I somehow doubt it.

[Spazito]

22. They should have know the capacity from the beginning of this

plan instead of saying they could house at least 20,000 people. If they had, then the buses could have gone to the different places immediately. This is appalling.

[ticapnews]

24. If that's what is happening, great...

but these people have been through an unthinkable ordeal already. They were looking forward to a meal, a shower, a chance to sleep...now they're told to get back on the bus and travel another few hours?

Communication. Leadership. Even the Red Cross didn't know this was the plan if they were expecting the bulk of people to arrive tomorrow.



Can we PLEASE have some competent people in charge for a change?

[stillcool]

25. You're supposed to know what...

the fuck your doing!!! FEMA's frigging job is to frigging be able to at least count and know what the capacity is BEFORE you send people there.

[illuminaughty]

41. And they exercised this scenario only a year ago

This is all criminal and Homeland Security is another word for bullshit.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

44. Just in case you haven't noticed, there are some MAJOR differences....

...between the current condition of the Superdome and that of the Astrodome.

The Astrodome has running water, air conditioning, food, water, and a security presence. The Superdome has NONE of those.

Most people are pissed that the authorities plainly stated that the Astrodome was going to take 20,000-25,000 people, and that plainly was NOT true. IMHO, that's just one more lie piled on top of the lies that have been told to date.

[Igel]

54. The fire marshall, a local official, said no more people.

Sounds like the governor and mayor didn't talk to the local authorities.

Why they would lie about it, I can't imagine. They'd have to have known that in two days the lie would be exposed and it would be even worse as a result.

You'd think that Tx and La folks would talk to each other: Houston's certainly not immune to floods, and it would be handy to have reciprocal evacuation/emergency shelter relations worked out.

[Bozita]

26. Wasn't there once a ship loaded with European Jews turned away ...

... from American ports?

This shit is starting to refresh my memory.

[Endangered Specie]

27. Goes to show you just how much progress we've made.

[bobbieinok]

28. will live in infamy forever....testimony to US hardheartedness

[piss_n_vinegar]

32. Were you reading my thoughts?

This is the very same thought that ran across my mind when I started reading this thread..(I just watched this on CNN) Eerily like the Jews that could find no port in the storm decades ago. Though I can understand not putting any group of people under the same roof for any length of time,(superdome disaster) and better to have fewer than more..Still Houston was feeling so proud of themselves just today and especially last night about the 24,000 people they could accomodate, than WAM-BAM, that plan doesn't work anymore. Did the firecode change today from last night??? I still have the uneasy feeling, the dickwads are playing musical chairs.....problem is there ain't no frickin' chairs!!

[delen]

38. The movie was

Voyage of the Damned. They weren't only turned away from American ports, literally no country would take them.

[MountainLaurel]

55. They eventually had to return to Germany

Because no country would offer them asylum. They all ended up in the death camps shortly after their return.

[despairing optimist]

57. Yes, the Saint Louis. Docked in Havana, expecting to gain entry

to the US but never did. Eventually the passengers wound up right back where they came from. Most never survived the war.

Shameful though that was, they weren't Americans. Refugees from New Orleans are, and they and we are getting a terrible education about what it means to have one's life judged on the basis of wealth, race, age, and physical value to the economy. It's social Darwinism of the worst kind.

[delen]

29. message deleted

[KamaAina]

31. Head of whoever came up with this brilliant plan : EMPTY

Un-freakin'-believable.

[Liberty Belle]

33. Some wound up in San Antonio, a friend there e-mailed me tonight.

They're putting them up in a stadium there.

[yellowcanine]

50. What about the ALAMO? That would be appropriately ironic.

[Lori Price CLG]

34. Astrodome Declared Full; Refugees Sent to Other Shelters

http://www.nbc30.com/news/4887230/detail.html

Astrodome Declared Full; Refugees Sent to Other Shelters --Senate Approves $10.5 Billion In Aid

After accepting more than 11,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees, officials say the Houston Astrodome is full. So, they've begun sending buses to other shelters in the Houston area.

The total of 11,000 inside the Astrodome is less than half the estimated 23,000 people who were expected to arrive by bus from New Orleans.

Buses that continue to arrive are being sent on to other shelters in the area and as far away as Huntsville, about an hour north of Houston.

<snip>

Lori Price

[progressivebydesign]

35. I saw the photos inside.. it's wall to wall people.

They are taking them to other shelters, apparently, tho no one is saying where that might be.

[Joebert]

37. Another story in LBN about Dallas taking 20,000

It's two sites, 10k each.

[cliss]

36. I think Bush is doing some "Ethnic Cleansing"

in his own country. If you read the stories on Yahoo news, it becomes VERY clear. These people are being left to die.

Bush is hoping they'll die quickly, or just shoot each other.

How else can you explain it?

Let's imagine for a moment, Palos Verdes in California gets hit with a disaster. Do you think Bush would let these people suffer? Even for 5 minutes? Not a chance.

[lavenderdiva]

39. Houston Chronicle: Stadium calls halt to taking refugees

link:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3334057

snip:

Officials closed the Reliant Astrodome to further New Orleans evacuees late Thursday, shortly before five more busloads arrived.

Although the passengers initially were told they would have to reboard the buses and go to Huntsville, officials relented and allowed at least one busload of 67 passengers to stay. The fate of the other four buses was still being considered late Thursday.

Houston Police Sgt. Nate McDuell said the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office ordered that no more evacuees be accepted.

snip:

The Dome was closed as its population of refugees from New Orleans swelled to 11,375, said Andrew Biar, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said the decision was made "for the safety and comfort of the people who are now in the Astrodome."

[pop goes the weasel]

40. wise decision

The Superdome shows what happens if a facility is over-crowded. San Antonio and Dallas are also taking 20,000+ refugees. The evacuation can go on, with those cities as destinations while Houston figures out where to put the rest of the ones it has promised to accept.

[northzax]

52. right, imagine 50,000 people

frustrated, angry and crowded, with no hope and no privacy.

you get riots. it's one thing for a day or two, but I think we may be talking weeks in the astrodome, overcrowding is a recipie for disaster.

[ninkasi]

42. I live near Houston

I watched the local news, ABC affiliate channel 13, and the reporters were visibly upset. People were being turned away, and according to the newscaster I saw, he said that some of the babies on the buses had bad coughs, were running fevers, and now they were going to be driven to Dallas, which is several hours away.

I saw people who had come to Houston from NO before Katrina hit, holding up signs, telling family members to try to get here, they are staying with relatives, friends, etc. Houstonians were bringing prepared food to the Dome, only to be turned away by authorities.

There were young men, big, strong young men, their voices shaking, asking for someone, anyone, to please help the babies and the elderly. A lot of the looting in NO is to get food, water, juice, baby formula, diapers, things of that nature.

This is absolutely inexcusable. As if the other crimes committed by the Bush thugs weren't enough, this is the tipping point. I think even some Republicans are upset. Consider this...we have been told that to question the Iraq fiasco is to give strength to the "terrorists." What does this say about us? Does the fool squatting in the White House realize how weak this makes us look?

They all need to be brought before the court at the Hague, and spend the rest of their miserable lives living in the conditions they have condemned others to suffer in. Even that is not enough punishment for the sheer suffering and misery they have inflicted upon us, and the rest of the world.

[Bridget Burke]

43. Some of the refugees were taken to Reliant Hall

It's an exhibit space next to the Astrodome, to be used as a staging area until other places can be found. Many of the new folks are dehydrated & hungry; a call was placed for more Medical help.

KHOU's reporter from Louisiana repeated criticisms of the Feds' slow response. As he mentioned W's upcoming trip, he pointed out that the Pres is shielded from those who disagree. We know this, but I hadn't heard it from a reporter.

[rocktivity]

45. They shouldn't overcrowd--why duplicate the Super Dome?

But wasn't there a backup plan? Why isn't anybody doing any THINKING here?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Mari333]

46. My son called me from Austin, they are opening up to take people

in Austin. Dont know where in Austin, but he says they are getting their resources together for it.

[Hayduke]

48. How long before the military recruiters arrive at the refugee ...

camps and start offering them a better life? I bet it won't be long.

[yellowcanine]

49. Another excellent planning job by FEMA.

[Bridget Burke]

51. FEMA had nothing to do with this.

The Dome to Dome swap was probably cooked up by the mayors of the cities.

According to morning news (here in Houston) there was a mess when buses arrived late last night, but it's been straightened out. Reliant Hall (next to the Astrodome) will be used as a staging area before people are sent elsewhere--& more places are opening up in Texas. Triage has been set up. All are suffering from hunger & dehydration, some will be admitted directly to hospital. (The Texas Medical Center is close by.)

[gkhouston]

53. they're taking them at Reliant Hall

and will put them in the Convention Center, if necessary, to honor the original estimate of accomodating 25,000 evacuees. The mayor's saying that anyone who wants to sue the city for not being able to use the convention center (for a prearranged conference) can go ahead and sue the city and see how that plays out, PR-wise, with America.

on edit: here's a link to a newspaper article in the Houston Chronicle:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3335968

[Bridget Burke]

58. It sounds like they are working things out.

Mayor Bill White is pretty smart. And a Democrat, of course.