Memphis officials prepare long-term for Katrina refugees
MEMPHIS — With thousands of refugees from Hurricane Katrina stuck in Memphis for who knows how long, city officials are making long-term plans to care for them.
Memphis school officials announced Wednesday that classrooms are opening for children left homeless by the storm.
“The key for us at this point is to get those kids in school,” schools spokesman Vincent McCaskill said.
Mayor Willie Herenton has created a committee of civic and business leaders to work on setting up temporary shelters and long-range housing for victims of Katrina.
City officials estimate more than 10,000 evacuees are in the Memphis area, staying at hotels or with friends or relatives.
“And we fully anticipate more will be coming,” said Kevin Kane, the committee’s chairman.
Up to 80 percent of New Orleans’ residents headed north to escape the storm, and thousands more fled the Mississippi Gulf Coast and other areas threatened by the hurricane.
Kane said his group is working with churches and local government in assessing the need for group shelters and talking with hotel and apartment building managers about special rates for the evacuees.
McCaskill said children displaced by the hurricane will not need the school and medical records generally required for enrollment.
“They won’t need any kind of documentation because they’re not going to have it,” he said.
Memphis schools are unsure how many children to expect, but a system with 120,000 students can handle a few thousand more, McCaskill said.
“Even if this causes some discomfort to some degree, it’s all about the kids,” he said.
In Nashville, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Tennessee will also reach out to college students displaced by Katrina. Those students can enroll in Tennessee colleges at in-state rates or for free if tuition has already been paid back home, Bredesen said.
As elsewhere, many evacuees seeking shelter in Memphis had expected to return home in a few days, but authorities now say it may be months before they can go back.
“We’re assessing what we can put together as a community,” Kane said. “We don’t know what the long-term needs will be, but right now, we have thousands of people up here.”
Many of those refugees, like Carolann Hecker of Metairie, La., are staying with friends or relatives.
Hecker, her husband, 11-year-old daughter, 80-year-old mother and pet cat, found shelter with Jimmy and Andrea Cash, who opened their suburban home to more than two dozen refugees.
At mealtimes, “with friends of friends of friends” dropping by, more than 40 people have gathered at the residence, said Hecker, a longtime friend of Andrea Cash.
“Andrea’s neighbors and friends have been sending food, after food, and they’re just beautiful people,” Hecker said.
The refugees sleep on beds, sofas, mattresses on the floor, anywhere space allows. “The only spot that’s open right now is the kitchen floor,” Hecker said.
Kane said some Memphis-area hotels and motels are already making accommodations for what they expect to be long-term guests.
“They’re relaxing a lot of their rules,” he said. “Many are becoming pet friendly, realizing the pets may be the only possessions they have left, and some are coming up with special intermediate and long-term rates.”