Tennessee’s relief efforts take shape in Memphis

Gov. Phil Bredesen was scheduled to be in Shelby County Saturday for a media briefing with local officials, including County Mayor A C Wharton, city Mayor Willie Herenton and other state officials.

They are expected to discuss what’s needed to meet the demands of taking in thousands of new residents: lodging, food, medical care, education and employment.

Bredesen said Friday that the city will have the full support of the state in handling the influx.

“I want them to know they have my word that we will do everything possible from the state level to help them during this difficult time,” Bredesen said in a statement.

The metro area’s medical facilities are prepared to take in thousands of evacuated patients, although fuel shortages snagged one planned convoy.

About 2,000 special needs health patients en route to the city Thursday were diverted to military facilities in Meridian, Miss., and Jackson, Miss., because of fuel shortages.

Memphis officials, who frantically prepared for the arrival for more than 24 hours, learned of the change in plans shortly after announcing they would use the Mid-South Coliseum as a temporary shelter for the patients.

Claude Talford, director of Memphis-Shelby County Emergency Management, said that he expected some patients eventually still will come to Memphis.

Meanwhile, the repair of New Orleans’ levees and pumping systems is in the hand of a team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that relocated to its office in Memphis to assemble a plan to drain and secure the submerged city.

Engineer Jerry Colletti said members of the Corps team from the New Orleans area made the 300-mile trip north to Memphis shortly before the hurricane hit, and many aren’t sure what to expect when they finally get home.

“My family is all safe, and my house, to the best of my knowledge, is safe,” he said. “But we have people here who lost their houses.”

Southern Mississippi’s football team has relocated to the city for about a week after Hattiesburg was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

“Thank goodness for the city of Memphis and especially the University of Memphis,” Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said. “I don’t know what else we could do. I know our football team is very appreciative of everything Memphis is doing for us.”

While many take refuge in the city, it also is becoming an important staging area for relief supplies heading south. Members of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief gathered at Cherry Road Baptist Church in Memphis earlier this week to prepare more than 300,000 meals for those affected by the hurricane.