AUSTIN - With hurricane season bearing down, a crucial part of the state’s elaborate disaster evacuation plan has already hit gridlock: Dallas is balking at a request to harbor as many as 40,000 of Harris County’s neediest evacuees.
As if Houston and Harris County needed yet another reason to hate Dallas, eh? Given what we did for New Orleans last summer, is Dallas afraid that we would be willing to assist them in the case of a disaster of some sort? Or are they really just narrow-minded, self-absorbed types who really are all and only about taking care of #1?
Taking care of however many New Orleans refugees we did last summer was certainly “a little bit of a chaotic situation”, but somehow people, government entities, and private charities found it within themselves to open their hearts to people who suddenly found themselves homeless. And you can bet that the Houston area took in a whole helluva lot more than 40,000 people. Well, if nothing else, we now know who our friends are and who we can count on…and when it comes to Dallas, you might as well just keep on driving, because there’s not going to be any room at the inn…or their hearts.
Texas officials, haunted by last year’s images from New Orleans of poor and elderly citizens left behind in Hurricane Katrina’s wake, have formed a plan in which coastal cities would be paired with inland destinations that would house “special needs” evacuees, those without the means or ability to escape on their own.
At a recent meeting in Corsicana, an official with Gov. Rick Perry’s emergency management division asked North Texas officials to reserve shelter for as many as 40,000 such residents from Harris County.
But Kenny Shaw, director of the city of Dallas’ office of emergency management, told the Houston Chronicle that sheltering that many needy, disabled or elderly evacuees - and possibly their pets - would be a stretch.
“It would be a little bit of a chaotic situation if we got 40,000 people,” Shaw said. “We are not going to be able to house anywhere near a 40,000 special needs population.”
The state can’t make any city take special needs evacuees, meaning if “Big D” ultimately refuses to open shelters for them, they’ll have to be transported even farther away to wait out the storm….
“We’d be on our own to use city employees or school employees,” he said. “The rest of us aren’t in the professional sheltering business.”
It’s true that no one can force anyone to open their heart, wallet, or mind. What the Houston area did last year was a spontaneous gesture that came from the heart. People here weren’t worried about whether or not New Orleans would return the favor if the tables were turned. We just did what needed to be done. That’s not to pat ourselves on the back; that’s the simple reality of the matter. I don’t remember the exact number of New Orleans refugees that ended up here in the Houston area, but it was significantly more than 40,000.
I suppose we should be thanking Mr. Shaw for at least being up front about the fact that Dallas doesn’t want anything to do with us if or when an emergency arises. You can bet that in the event of an emergency evacuation, I’m going to keep right on driving when I reach Dallas…and if y’all ever need a hand, try to remember that what goes around everntually comes around, eh?
