Atlanta Shelters Offer Hope to Evacuees

By Elaine Reyes WXIA

ATLANTA, GA -- Two disaster relief shelters in Metro Atlanta are helping assist the steady flow of hurricane-weary evacuees from the Gulf Coast seeking food, rest and peace of mind.

One of the two American Red Cross shelters - located at the Adamsville Recreation Center on Martin Luther King Drive, near Interstate 285 -opened its doors at 7 p.m. Tuesday to the thousands of men, women and children who fled the deadly floodwaters and twisters spawned by Katrina, which first slammed onto the Louisiana shoreline last Monday as a Category 5 hurricane.

By Tuesday, nearly 100 people were feared dead in Louisiana after the levees restraining a rain-swelled Lake Pontchartrain burst, plunging the Crescent City under monstrous floodwaters. A day earlier, Gov. Kathleen Blanco told everyone in the city, including those huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers, to evacuate immediately.

Louisiana residents who'd already heeded the warning of the approaching storm, which rivaled the devastating Camille, traveled east toward Atlanta, escaping havoc also wrought by Katrina in Mississippi and Alabama. Many of them told 11Alive they fled their homes with next to nothing.

Zealise Lacour said, "I only brought two outfits with me. That's all I brought, because I wasn't prepared to leave."

Some have taken refuge in shelters set up the by the Red Cross, while others are staying in area motels, possibly because the handful of shelters are rapidly reaching capacity.

Among those driven from their homes are Mary Thornton and about 30 members of her family who are living out of three rooms at a Motel 6 in College Park, Ga. She says they're running out of food, daily necessities and have even resorted to begging for money.

"We had to get out on the road today and ask for donations so that we could stay here another night," Thornton said.

"We held up signs on the corner and when the car stopped, we walked up to them, asked if they wanted to give a donation so that we can get back for food and gas," said James Johnson

The motel is full of people in the same situation.

"We just got each other, it's all we got," Angeles Dominguez, also an evacuee from New Orleans, said. "It's very stressful. You've seen the city and it's full of water. We don't know how long we're going to last out here."

"Is there anything left to go home to?" Thornton said. "We have not heard from a family member. We don't know if they are living or dead."

Still, they said that above all else they are glad to be alive and well. However, with their money running out and homes in New Orleans likely a total loss, it's unknown how long the Thorntons can last in Atlanta or whether they'll have any home left to return to.

Local disaster-relief agencies - including the metro chapters of The American Red Cross and The United Way - are turning to the Atlanta community for help in donations of food, clothing and money. Anyone interested in giving to The United Way can call 2-1-1 from anywhere in Metro Atlanta.

To get more details on the Red Cross shelters, call (404) 870-4440.

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