Refugee updates - I have not seen an official count of how many are spread out around the state. I have talked with many cities in Louisiana and the numbers are amazing. Monroe went from 2,000 last week to 10,000 today. A smaller city, Opelousas has 6,000. They are in civic centers, empty city buildings, etc. I wish there was some way to count the ones that are living in neighborhoods. Many of their children started school today but I'm sure there will be more in the next week. I have no count on these statewide but there are thousands. Ascension Parish has over 1,000 if you count the public and private schools. Baker, a small town north of Baton Rouge, has over 300.
FEMA Camps - not the ones for the citizens, the ones for the employees. There are FEMA camps being setup to house all of the employees that will be down/are down to help. There is a large presence on the LSU campus. They are also setting one up on the LA State Fairgrounds. The fairgrounds have 100s of RVs, a dozen gas tanker cars, many large KVM generators, and portable restrooms and showers. One FEMA official told me that he was going to have close to 80,000 people in East Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes helping out. I wouldn't believe the number if it didn't come from someone employed by them. He also mentioned he would be setting one up in Gonzales.
House Guests - our 1st family returned to their home in Slidell. There is power but there is only one or two gas stations and places to buy food in all of St. Tammany Parish. I would have waited, but the urge to get back home is strong. We had one couple stay last night before going into Metairie today. We may actually have a free night. It will actually seem lonely. I'm sure we will divvy up one of the remaining families with our in-laws.
New Orleans - I have friends going in tomorrow and will get an update. People have been getting in and out. One report mentions it is easy to get in but you get checked up and down trying to leave. There is a black market for IDs to get into the areas that are closed off. Many people have borrowed relatives medical IDs. I spoke with one person who copied some type of temporary FEMA ID (probably a felony). There are also some disaster recovery team IDs that people are copying. Most people aren't sight seeing they are merely trying to get to their home or some friend or relative’s home and see if it is OK. Many people have mentioned that if they had any idea they would be unable to return to their homes for such a long time, they would have taken a few extra things. Items range from computers to financial records. Most people could care less about their stuff.
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