Bredesen requests emergency declaration to help refugees

“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health and safety,” Bredesen wrote Thursday in a letter to President Bush.

More than 10,000 evacuees are estimated to be staying just in Memphis following the storm, many of them in hotels. Bredesen said these evacuees’ funds for lodging would soon be exhausted, and that Tennessee will open 10 different shelters to house them.

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.

A federal declaration would allow the state to seek funding for processing and housing evacuees, providing medical care and eventually integrating children into local school systems, Bredesen said.

Evacuated students can enroll in Tennessee colleges at in-state rates or for free if tuition has already been paid back home.

Bredesen said the state has already enacted its emergency plan and has sent several units of the Tennessee National Guard south to help relief efforts. Refugees can also seek jobs from Tennessee employers through state career centers.