Wondering your thoughts as to why the Evacuees do not want to come Camp Edwards in MA

[Mackey Mouse]

Ok, I know the obvious it is pretty far from where they were born and raised. I also know we have cold weather in the winter, but with that being said, if you have in fact lost everything, and have an opportunity to start over with assistance, why would you turn that down? I guess I would go anywhere they were going to help me get started again...

I am just trying to understand why you would turn down that offer for help? There are many people here on Cape Cod, who have not only contributed through their churches or favorite charities, they were willing to come forward and contribute their time and effort to help these people.

Sorry I did not see the other thread discussing this, I would just like to know why??

[WebmasterAlex]

I think they government is in a catch 22 right now. The people need to be moved out of places like the Astrodome but they really don't want to go anywhere. They don't want to go on the cruise ships Carnival sent, they don't want to go to other states. I have read it's fear of not being able to reunite with families, of missing out on federal benefits etc.
Problem is they need to spread the load on this...

[NMAmy]

I can't speak for the survivors but if I were in their shoes and I didn't know where my family was--I'd want to wait till I got everyone together before I moved all the way across the country. Families were split up to evacuate. If DH knew I was on my way to Houston--I would not leave there until I found him again.

Here in Michigan, the Michigan Black Caucus went down with several buses filled with food--fully intending to bring back survivors to stay in shelters here in Lansing. One family came back with them. I wasn't surprised in the least. I really believe that survivors need time to figure out what they want to do and get their families back together before moving them across country. Plus the cultural differences and climate differences would truly be shocking--particularly with all these people have already gone through. I'm not surprised that they want to stay near the familiar and hope to go back to their hometowns eventually. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same way in that situation.

[Mackey Mouse]

Exactly Alex, we are a country and should all be helping out. Whether by donation or volunteering to help at our local churches, etc. I would have volunteered my time at Otis....it is close to me.

If this is about receiving assistance and money and not leaving area because you are afraid you will miss out on that assistance, that is pretty sad. I would hope that someone is keeping records of who lives where and what they need, I am sure in the State of MA we have many social security workers who would step up to the plate to assist these people. Also, in response to previous poster, what if you had your family together and could come together as a family...I am sure there are some who are together as a whole, why not come to a place where you were going to get great assistance and probably a job, etc.

Sorry.....I do not get it.

[gina2000]

Marsha, these people have been asked to leave every memory, every relationship and everything they know and love behind to find something better. That's not an easy thought during the most lucid moments of most peoples' lives. With all the crisis and turmoil currently occurring in these peoples' lives, it's easy to understand why they cling to what they know.

Pioneer spirit and optimism isn't always easy to find under such trying circumstances.

[Mackey Mouse]

Hi Gina, nice to see you..

Let me just say here just because I live in MA and on Cape Cod, I am not taking this personal... I was just trying to understand why you would not want to come to a place where you might make a better life.............where you do not have to worry about levees, etc...hurricanes, well we do get them but not to that magnitude.....

If all the pieces were together for you, family, pets, and everything was gone, why not make a new start. It boggles my mind a bit, yes I would be frightened but if there was nothing left for me where I use to live, I would try to go forward. Maybe it was the way I was brought up or my faith...I always think when a door is closed, someone opens a window, MA did that with this offer.

One more thought here, my memories I carry in my heart... I have moved many times and I take them with me.............If I did not do that, how would I share with my family all the happy memories I have of my childhood, my deceased parents, their childhood, my children's childhood.....we are the keepers of those memories and they need to come with us wherever we go.

[gina2000]

Marsha, you can think about it rationally without tragedy overshadowing your decision. It's honestly too soon for these people to be able to make such a life-changing decision. They've already had one thrust upon them. Two are just too much to handle.

[minkydog]

I can't speak for the survivors but if I were in their shoes and I didn't know where my family was--I'd want to wait till I got everyone together before I moved all the way across the country. Families were split up to evacuate. If DH knew I was on my way to Houston--I would not leave there until I found him again.

I really believe that survivors need time to figure out what they want to do and get their families back together before moving them across country. Plus the cultural differences and climate differences would truly be shocking--particularly with all these people have already gone through. I'm not surprised that they want to stay near the familiar and hope to go back to their hometowns eventually. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same way in that situation.

This is it, exactly. We're aren't talking about people taking a corporate transfer. After what they've been through, it's not about the money. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be relocated to Boston either. But not because i perceive it to be a horrible place. It's just too far away from home, even if that home was under 20ft of sewer water.

Personally, for me & my family, we'd probably come out on top because we're hard workers and we have marketable skills. A lot of these people were undereducated to start with and have no skills. You're asking people who mostly have never left the state of Louisiana to move almost 2000 miles to a place they've never seen and have no family support system, with no guarantee of ever going back. I would think you'd have to be a pretty adventurous soul to be able to adjust to all their losses. Moving the the other side of the country would be too much to ask of a lot of these folks.

eta: Watch The Grapes of Wrath for a better understanding of what's taking place here.

[froglady]

I can understand their feeling. They may suspect that family members are "gone" but without a body it's not confirmed, so there is hope that they have only been separated, and that the missing family member is still in the area searching for them.

They're afraid that other family members will not be able to find them again. Their trust in the government's ability to help them in their search (and I'm not going to debate whether or not they were too dependent in the first place) has been destroyed, so they feel that they must conduct the search themselves. Or stay put until the missing people show up, one way or another.

[Mackey Mouse]

I understand what you are saying Gina. I think they need to get out of New Orleans and let the work begin but in saying that it is going to take quite some time to rebuild New Orleans....in Mississippi, I am not sure how their evacuation issues are doing, but in the case of New Orleans, these people need to get out of there in order to survive.

They need a place to live and live comfortably, and Camp Edwards would have done nicely in that respect. I understand that they are confused and overwhelmed, someone needs to step and help them make the right decisions for their families.

There is too much confusion and misinformation going on, no wonder these people are so confused themselves. They have already lost everything....

PS Camp Edwards is part of Otis Air Force Base and is housed on Cape Cod, takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to Boston depending on traffic....so this is not city living...

[kejoda]

I wouldn't give up Marsha. Given time some people might change their minds after thinking, dicussing with their familes. Maybe not all of the evacuees know that the offer is there.

I just can't imagine being in that situation having to make another life changing decsion. Fear of the unknown in normal life is hard to deal with, imagine how it would be now.

[va32h]

Fear of the unknown, the unfamiliar. There are some evacuees who have never left Lousianana, some who have never left New Orleans, heck, some who have probably never left their neighborhood in New Orleans.

[ducklite]

Fear of the unknown, the unfamiliar. There are some evacuees who have never left Lousianana, some who have never left New Orleans, heck, some who have probably never left their neighborhood in New Orleans.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

I think also people feel that they will be allowed back to NOLA "soon" and don't want to be too far away when they are allowed to go back. Houston and Dallas are still in the same basic geographical region. In their minds, you might as well be sending them to the UK to send them to MA.

I think eventually people will be given the choice of going to shelters in other parts of the country, or on to cruise ships, or simply being out on the street on their own. They will start with the most able bodied when giving that choice--starting with childless adults who are not seniors or disabled. It will be a lot like "Workfare" in that respect.

Anne

[peachgirl]

Considering what happened to them when they did what they were told and went to the Superdome, I can understand why they wouldn't want to leave once they got to a place that was at least relatively safe and clean.

[Shagley]

I have also heard that most of the evacuees are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress disorder which prevents them from making even basic decisions. Also, many of the evacuees probably haven't had access to the 24 hour news channels like we have, so they might not realize that there is no chance that they will be going back to their homes for a long, long time (if ever). I think that would be a hard decision to make, even if you had all your family together and knew there was nothing left in New Orleans to go back to.

Peoria is supposed to be getting about 200 evacuees today, but I read that most of them have family in this area and that is why they agreed to come here.

[Mackey Mouse]

Good points everyone... thanks for helping me understand. There must be a better way to help these people........if everyone just did a little, maybe we could get them through, but I do understand that they have been through enough and that maybe MA is just too far away.............

Hopefully other states closer will step up to the plate to help these people and I am sure they are in the process of doing so.

Who dropped the ball, that is another thread for sure.

[JimMIA]

Based on what we saw in Hurricane Andrew, I think many of the people have much simpler motivations. They just want to go back home. And they want to do that as soon as possible, so they can start to put their lives back together.

Unfortunately, that's just not possible, and it will very likely not be possible for a LONG time.

In Hurricane Andrew, we had some options. We had 80% of our community intact. We had an intact economy. We had an intact local government. We had vacant land where FEMA could, and did, bring in hundreds of mobile homes where people could live comfortably for extended periods (They didn't want to leave the mobile homes, incidentally, and we had to evict them!).

But, in Hurricane Andrew, we did not have 1% of the problem on our hands that they have in the Gulf Coast. Not even close to 1% of what's on their plate.

Emergency managers are going to be forced to make some very difficult decisions. They've already made one with the mandatory evacuation of the rest of the people left in New Orleans. They are going to have to make additional tough decisions on the people in shelters. They can't keep them there for years...and that's what this is going to take.

[Deb in IA]

I also think some of them are just getting sick and tired of being herded around like cattle.

They've been moved from New Orleans to Houston. Some of them were moved from various locations even before they were evacuated -- from flooded homes, to temporary shelters, to the Superdome, etc.

Some of them want to get back to see exactly what they have and what they lost. Many may decide to move after that.

People want control of their lives, especially now, when so much is out of their control. If they have to relocate, they want to at least get to decide when and where they are going.

[Margie J]

I wasn't surprized by the announcement that the Evacuees didn't want to come here. After their refusal to go aboard the cruise ships also it was clear that many wanted to stay put.

The stress of all that has already happened has to be overwhelming for most of them. The one thing they may have left, eventually, is their land on which to rebuild. They still need to reconnect with family and friends (if possible) before saying goodbye. They need "closure" on this before moving on. Under this much stress people often can't make quick decisions.

Think about it this way - Many New Englanders would never leave this area either. How many people do you know, whole families, that have lived here for generations and not moved far from their "roots". It's family, the land, the culture of the area that keeps them here. It's the same for many Southern families. NE is foreign to them. They may be afraid to resettle here and thus lose what really matters to them, not their homes or jobs, their very way of life. It is different in the South (as it is here, the midwest, etc.) and a move here would always put them in the position of an outsider. JMO.

[ducklite]

I guess we now know the answer to the question about this changing the demographics of NOLA, it seems that most are planning on going back, end of story.

Anne

[d-r]

I can't speak for the survivors but if I were in their shoes and I didn't know where my family was--I'd want to wait till I got everyone together before I moved all the way across the country. Families were split up to evacuate. If DH knew I was on my way to Houston--I would not leave there until I found him again.

Here in Michigan, the Michigan Black Caucus went down with several buses filled with food--fully intending to bring back survivors to stay in shelters here in Lansing. One family came back with them. I wasn't surprised in the least. I really believe that survivors need time to figure out what they want to do and get their families back together before moving them across country. Plus the cultural differences and climate differences would truly be shocking--particularly with all these people have already gone through. I'm not surprised that they want to stay near the familiar and hope to go back to their hometowns eventually. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same way in that situation.

Just a note, they had been told they would pick up 150 people. They had 21 apartments/homes lined up, and 5 school district buildings. Each family was going to be given a classroom as a temporary home in the schools, after the 21 were filled. They weren't going to be staying in "shelters" so much as "temporary apartments."

They had a TON of donations of food, clothes, etc.

And the governer says that up to 10,000 people may come to Michigan. I feel like some folks passed up a pretty good opportunity for temporary housing.

[Crankyshank]

They just announced that they are not coming to RI either.
They opened up 75 Naval housing units (got food/furniture donations, volunteers lined up, etc....) and are in the process of opening 75 more to house 500 people in duplex/apartments and were told the plans were halted.

I'm sorry but what a waste of resources if people wind up not moving up here. FEMA moved RI to the top of the list because the state was offering up housing instead of barracks. They should have gotten an actual count of people who would be willing to relocate before giving the go ahead. I'm not blaming the people refusing to go. It's just that it seems to me that The effort gone into lining up schools, housing, furnishings, clothes, volunteers, etc... could have instead been focused on giving the evacuees what they want or need in the area they are in and have no intention of leaving.

[mom2boys]

I can understand not wanting to leave. Perhaps they can bring their immediate family but what about extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins. Their entire sense of community. They have lost everything.

Perhaps as time goes by, these people will come to realize that as difficult as it may be, they have few other options.

[va32h]

I agree that it's a waste of resources & time; unfortunately that is what happens when the people in charge make assumptions about what the people affected will want.

That said, the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced cannot all fit in the rest of Lousiana and parts of Texas. Particularly if the people dispatched to clean up and rebuild the areas have to go live in the rest of Lousiana!

Perhaps in another few weeks, when more information is ready, and people can get more details about where they are going, for how long, and how they can get back...more will be willing to travel to other states.

[peachgirl]

I'm sorry but what a waste of resources if people wind up not moving up here. FEMA moved RI to the top of the list because the state was offering up housing instead of barracks. They should have gotten an actual count of people who would be willing to relocate before giving the go ahead. I'm not blaming the people refusing to go

It's just another example of mis-management by FEMA. We had the same thing happen here. A group was given notice that they were in line to get evacuees and the group was even paying for the transportation.

They rented a charter bus ($2500) and took in thousands of dollars in donations, had volunteers lined up to work and headed down to pick the evacuees up. No takers and they ended up driving an empty bus home.

Just because the government is "giving" assistance to these people in no way makes these people somehow beholden to the government to go where they tell them to. The government isn't this vast charitable organization...we pay for the services they render by way of our tax dollars as do many of the evacuees. They need to ask these people what they want to do and ask before they tell organizations to go ahead with expensive planning.

Don't blame the evacuees because I'm quite sure no one is informing them of all the plans FEMA seems to be making for them. (I'm not saying the poster I'm responding to is doing that, but others have.)

[DisneyArk]

We have a lot of people coming here (Arkansas). Hopefully we can help these people in whatever ways they want to be helped. Like many of you have said, so many of them just want temporary help until they can go back to N.O.

Our media has been having a lot of stories of large extended families being reunited in our area!! I'm so happy for these families to be together again. :goodvibes

And I wanted to add that no matter how terrible their situations may seem to all of us, these people still have hopes, dreams and desires for their futures. I guess I'm saying that they still have opinions about where they want to live. The people I've talked to really believe that they will be able to go back and live in N.O. very soon..... I just wonder what will really happen to N.O. and how quickly the situation down there will improve. :confused3

It's so awesome to see people all over the US offering to help!! I'm sure they appreciate the offers of assistance. :goodvibes

[Jennifer S]

Here in Philadelphia they had a plane bring some residents of NO (this was today) and only 35 people got off the plane. We had enough room for 1,000 families. Maybe more will come. I don't know.

I can understand not wanting to be far but it does seem like a waste to plan all this and then no one comes. I thought the cruise idea was awesome- not thinking they don't want to live on water. I guess when this is all done we will have learned a lot as a country.

I really feel for these people.

[SplshMtn99]

I wonder if some of it is that our cost of living in MA is insane. If they are considered poor in NOLA, then they would be REALLY poor in MA. Everything cost more here.

[Rex Rules]

For me myself, it wouldn't be a problem. I love my extended family, but do not have to be in the same county or state - there are many ways for us to keep in touch.
However, for the rest of my family, 90% of which are in a two county area in the same state, it would be a huge deal. They are not the strike out on your own kind of people, they like having alot of family around and that built in security of having people nearby. I'm not saying that they are right or wrong, just have a different view. I love going new places and seeing new things and people. But going far away isn't for everyone. I would imagine that some of those people have been in New Orleans for generations and generations and some may have never even been out of the city or state. It is hard to imagine for most of us, but that is the way it is.
I am sure it is not a slam against your state or your people and their hospitality, just fear of the unknown. Also it is very cold there - I would think it would be hard for someone who has lived in place with such a mild winter to transition to such a harsh winter.

[sk8belle]

There's an article in today's Washington Post about why some of the evacuees who were brought here to DC didn't want to be here. Apparently, people weren't told where they were being flown to until they got on the plane. They felt they were brought too far from what they still consider "home". In fact, a few were so unhappy, they demanded to be brought back to the airport so they could get back to TX or AL. Their lives have been uprooted enough; I can understand why they'd want to be as close to something familar as possible.

[Mackey Mouse]

Meanwhile on our local news, there seems to be a controversy on how much money was expended to prepare Camp Edwards.. geez, I have to tell you here, why spend the money before you know the evacuees want to come here..

Yes it is expensive living in MA and Cape Cod is a resort area so add a few more dollars to that as well. And I do agree we have cold winters, maybe not ideal for people who are use to living where it is warm.....I am just happy that my state, where I do have roots, at least volunteered to help.

I will give money at my church this Sunday and call it a day...

[PatsGirl]

I am also from the Cape and have been minimally involved in relief efforts as well. While I didn't find it surprising that evacuees decided not to come to Otis Air Force Base, I do think there's an engaging debate about whether you can both depend 100% upon government aid and still have the sole decision about your welfare. I feel for those people that don't want to leave their familiar surroundings and family that may or may not be lost, but to refuse the types of accomodations/aid that both Camp Edwards and many other proposed "shelter" sites offer cannot be in their best interest and will utimately end up costing the government thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) more in $$.

I do want to add that I can only wonder what I'd be doing/thinking/reacting if I were an evacuee... Maybe some of this unwillingness to be led is PTSS and maybe some is sheer stubborness like I can assure you us Northerners know all about, or maybe it is just the constant herding and feeling a loss of dignity.

I hope that if I'm ever faced with the dilemma of providing my children with food, clothing, disease-free environment, educational resources, and the like,that I would put them first, take one day at a time and put one foot in front of the other but like I said, I can only wonder what it's like to walk a mile in their shoes.

Just another note: I read/heard somewhere that government personnel here in MA have stated that they would be glad to provide transportation to anyone wanting to leave after a time in shelter here, that it is good economical sense to provide this because it would take the financial burden of the state. I wonder how many evacuees have been told that they will be provided transportation back to the South when and if they are able to rebuild their lives there??

Brenda

[va32h]

Well, let's also remember that not all the evacuees were totally dependent on government support prior to the hurricane. Isn't it possible that some of the evacuees are homeowners, business owners, and want to stay in the area so they can find out what happened to their property?

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The evacuees do not want to come to MA because it's not in Texas. That wasn't intended to be ugly, so no flames, please.

For the moment, nobody I have seen on TV or read about in the paper plans to go anywhere other than Texas, ever. But I expect that to change.

Texas is lovely, BUT...
There will come a time when city officials will demand the return of their stadiums. Nobody can live permanently in a stadium. The longest estimates I have heard are 90 days. So people will have to move out eventually. The choices at 90 days will be to find housing in whatever city they are in, head back to LA and figure out what to do, or go to another state that has appropriate facilities. They can't just be in limbo forever - they WILL have to go somewhere other than the Astrodome or Reunion Arena.

They said on our news today that there are about 500,000 apartments in the general Dallas/Ft. Worth area. 88% of them are occupied. That leaves about 60,000 apartments. Sounds like plenty until you take into consideration that some of them are tiny little studio apartments, some of them are prohibitively expensive, and they are spread out over an enormous metropolitan area. Apartments have very strict regulations about how many residents can occupy a unit, so families will not be allowed to live in a tiny studio apartment. Unoccupied units is not an accurate indicator of how many empty units are SUITABLE units. I imagine some families won't be happy with what they can find. Some hotels are currently bending the rules on occupancy (# of occupants and length of stay) and offering reduced rates but that won't last forever.

The news said the families will receive vouchers for housing costs. My friend is a property manager at an apartment complex. She said not every property will accept those vouchers. If that's true, then the number of units to choose from drops again. Add that to the challenge of finding a job in a market that wasn't very conducive to job hunting in the first place and there are BOUND to be people who leave.

If not, please keep in mind that I ADORE New England and I would LOVE to come live there. Think FEMA will transport me for free if I surrender my dwelling in Dallas to somebody who refuses to relocate? ;)

[Mackey Mouse]

I am smiling here.. JSG, c'mon up. We are about to have my favorite time of year.. Fall and the leaves change color and it is crisp and cool..

Of course, then followed by winter.. Yuck... but then Spring and then Summer again.. Summer on Cape Cod is beautiful, crowded, but beautiful

I do understand there not wanting to come so far from their roots, I am sure I would feel the same way..

[SplshMtn99]

Any updates on this? This morning I heard on the radio that 500 decided to come to MA....and they were to arrive today.

I haven't heard anymore while at work. Is this still on?

[debster812]

Any updates on this? This morning I heard on the radio that 500 decided to come to MA....and they were to arrive today.

I haven't heard anymore while at work. Is this still on?

I don't think we'll know until the planes are touching down at Otis.

[Jenn]

Looks like 250 are on their way to MA today.

From www.whdh.com:

BOURNE (AP) -- State officials were preparing Thursday for the arrival of as many as 250 evacuees from the Gulf Coast, with the first planeload expected to arrive by mid-afternoon.

One plane carrying more than 100 people left New Orleans before noon and was scheduled to arrive at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod around 2:30 p.m., according to an announcement made over loudspeakers to volunteers assembled in a hangar there.

A second plane could arrived after midnight, state Public Safety Secretary Ed Flynn said in an e-mail to legislators.

Steve Schwadron, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., said the two planes were expected to deliver a total of about 250 evacuees to Cape Cod.

From Otis, the evacuees were to be transported to Camp Edwards, located on another section of the sprawling Massachusetts Military Reservation, where state and military officials set up temporary housing in brick barracks capable of housing up to 2,500 people.

The state had scrambled to arrange accommodations for refugees who were expected to begin arriving on Tuesday. But state officials received word late that night from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that many hurricane survivors wanted to stay closer to home as they resolve issues of property, employment and the safety of family and friends.

Federal officials told the state to keep the Cape Cod National Guard base on standby. In the meantime, volunteers were sent home and everything from toothbrushes to teddy bears waited unused.

Then, base officials received word early Thursday that an unspecified number of evacuees would be arriving later in the day, according to aNational Guard spokeswoman. Volunteers were summoned back to Camp Edwards and barracks were readied for their arrival. Trucks and buses were seen coming and going from Camp Edwards throughout the morning.

Gov. Mitt Romney also headed to the Cape by helicopter and planned to hold a news conference at the base early in the afternoon.

[beattyfamily]

Yep, they interrupted TV to show them landing. About 100 I think. Another airplane will arrive around Midnight! :goodvibes

[PatsGirl]

Another invite to Cape Cod, though I gotta say I've been to TX and OMG was it hot :flower:

Two planes so far have dropped off passengers at Otis. I think it was 107 yesterday and 100 or more today, with 68 of them being children. It seems that alot of the population was elderly and, no offense to anyone out there, Cape Cod is a haven of elderly. I have worked with the elderly for 14 years and we never have an extra bed on the Cape for any lenght of time so....
It was also reported that no one knew where they were going until the planes too off and it seems there are a few disgruntled people.

Oh well, all accounts say the welcome was phenomenal and many were so happy they were crying... and this is what it's all about. The paper today quoted one person in their thank you letter for the compassion they felt in their welcome.

I wish they didn't have to force anyone to come here but I think we are offering more than comfortable accomodations for a shelter: private rooms, grocery store, playground, cinema and twice daily transportation into town, to mention a few things.

I think many more will choose to come here and my "We've GOt Your Back" campaign will be needed (I've already collected nearly 50 filled backpacks among other things).

Brenda

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I'm glad you guys in the Great White North are getting a chance to help before your town is buried under 10 feet of snow! :rotfl:

I lived in Brockton in 1977-78 and I remember some SERIOUS snow. I think I might be too wimpy to live in a northern state now, but I would be willing to try! I've been in Texas and Florida ever since then so it would be an adjustment. Poor DH was born in Dallas and has only been out of Texas a few times. Twice to Florida. Don't know what he would think about snow that accumulates!

I would imagine any evacuees who move to less crowded areas would be much more comfortable not having to stand in lines with thousands of other people to wait for basic things like food and showers. I've never been in an NBA or NHL locker room but I can't imagine that the facilities are that big. Reunion was for basketball and I think hockey before we got the new arena, so that's what kind of showers are there.

[peachgirl]

On CNN, they were just talking about 20 some children that have been brought here, well at least somewhere in this state, that have been separated from their families.

How awful that has to be for the kids as well as the parents! They wouldn't disclose the location or even give out names for security reasons. I'm not sure why, maybe so that people who aren't the real parents don't try to claim them?

I'm not sure how they plan on locating their families if they can't give out any information, but this is really so sad for them.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am glad those little ones are safe in OK and not stuck in a shelter in TX with who-knows-what sort of people. They must be scared. I have seen several parents who are just FRANTIC to find their kids. The mayor announced today that they want the shelters empty, and she has started a huge initiative to get people into their own places. Guess they can't do that with unaccompanied minors, now can they? Did CNN say where the kids came from (as far as what state they were being housed in before OK)? Dallas has an amazing facility for HIV+ kids and they sometimes take kids from CPS who are "in transition" and have nowhere else to go. But I guess with the evacuees if they are coming down with Norwalk and may not have all of their immunizations then they couldn't put them with the HIV+ kids. I'm sure some of the kids are probably too young or too traumatized to tell rescue workers who they are or who their parents are. Well, I am sure their parents are looking for them every second of every day and they will be together soon. If not their parents then hopefully extended family will find them. I hate to think that any of them could be orphans, but I suppose some might be.

[PatsGirl]

Hey, after all the snow we had last winter and especially the 3' that seemed to take forever to melt, I don't think you're comment is very funny :rotfl2: So, it seems you were here for the blizzard of 78' and got a real taste of New England. Once my kids are out of school, I am moving. Actually considering moving 9/08 when my oldest goes to college and my youngest will be entering a new school but haven't had much luck looking at real estate markets elsewhere. Of course, my shack here on Cape Cod is probably worth 3X what a shack in alot of Midwest places would be worth -- just not sure I can forego the Ocean. But, I gotta get warm :rotfl:

Brenda

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

PatsGirl -

Well I see Boston has the somewhat dubious distinction of being THE most expensive city in the nation to live in, so I am sure your property is probably worth a fair amount. I miss the ocean, but there weren't any bad hurricanes when we were in Florida so I have fond memories. North Texas has lakes, but I don't care much for lakes. Of course if it's HEAT you're after then step right up! Temps in the mid-to-high 90's every day right now!

I think things would have to get REALLY bad for us to leave Texas. Like I said, DH was born here, DS was born here, I've been here since 1989. It's a pain to move - even just to move from one house to another locally. Maybe DS will go to an Ivy League college and we will move up there with him! :teeth:

I suppose for someone who has lived their entire life in the South it would be a shock to go to New England. When we lived there in the '70's the principal told my mom I would need "Gym shahts". She thought he was talking about some sort of immunizations! What he meant were "shorts". :rotfl2: Of course before long I was talking about things being "Down cellar" and calling my mom "Mah" so I adjusted quickly.