As Astrodome fills up, Houston opens 2 new sites
HOUSTON -- Surprised by the constant stream of Hurricane Katrina victims arriving into this Texas city, local officials yesterday stopped admitting more evacuees to the Astrodome because of safety concerns and opened two convention arenas to shelter new arrivals.
Houston Mayor Bill White, who called for residents to open their apartments and garages to evacuees, estimated that 100,000 evacuees had already descended on the Houston area -- many staying in hotels or with friends or relatives -- after Governor Rick Perry agreed to take in people displaced from their homes in New Orleans.
The unprecedented gesture is serving as a benchmark for other states and cities planning to take in people displaced from the Gulf Coast, but it has also left officials scrambling to figure out how to care for so many people at once.
''We are trying things never done before," White told reporters. ''If someone had forecasted the destruction of New Orleans, then I'd like to join that person's church."
On Thursday night, the fire marshal ordered that no more evacuees be permitted to stay at the Astrodome, where 11,000 were already housed. Buses packed with people from New Orleans were turned away, but White rescinded the order.
Yesterday, officials, who initially said 23,000 to 25,000 could fit in the dome, agreed to stop at the current 15,000 mark because of fears of overcrowding. An additional 11,000 will stay at the Reliant Center and 3,000 are already at the Reliant Arena, both located on the campus of the Astrodome. Officials said thousands more would probably be taken to another arena in the downtown area.
White also said some conventioneers would be expelled from centers to accommodate evacuees.
Officials acknowledged they did not have a comprehensive plan to handle the tens of thousands who arrived in Houston.
''Nobody in the world has seen anything like this," said Dr. Kenneth C. Matter, the lead physician running the medical clinic at the Astrodome. ''You see displaced people in Bosnia . . . or in Africa, but this is the destruction of an entire city and the whole population has been displaced."
In a statement, Perry said Texas could provide refuge to an additional 50,000 people in 48 shelters in other cities across the state. In a letter to President Bush, he asked for federal emergency aid, while also issuing a disaster declaration for the state in order to free up local emergency funds.
''Hurricane Katrina, a disaster for our neighboring states, has created emergency conditions in Texas that will require all available resources of both federal and state governments to overcome," the governor said. He also asked the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to identify vacant low-income housing units that can be used by evacuees. About 7,000 units have been identified so far, the statement said.
No one knows how long evacuees could be in Texas, though officials said it could be months.
Besides Houston, Dallas is expected to take in 25,000 evacuees at its Reunion Arena, and San Antonio will take in the same number at a former Air Force base that is now a city-owned complex. Celso Martinez, spokesman for the City of Dallas, said it has taken in 1,500 evacuees, but only has room for 10,000. He said neighboring cities have been asked to accommodate the other 15,000.
In just two days, the abandoned Astrodome has turned into a small city, with its own ZIP code, clinic, and a crew of 30 psychologists. So far, two elderly evacuees have died, one in an area hospital and another in the dome, Matter said. He said both had chronic illnesses. A small number of people in the dome were arrested, including men who allegedly went into women's shower areas and others who reportedly fought over cots.
Matter said he realized only recently that he would need more doctors and nurses than expected at the Astrodome. So far, 20 doctors and 30 to 40 nurses have seen about 2,800 patients. He said 75 to 80 evacuees have been sent to area hospitals to be checked out. Most evacuees needed to be evaluated for long-term illnesses relating to high blood pressure or diabetes, he said. And most came with minor cuts and bruises, and no infectious diseases have been detected.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 
