Published: September 01, 2008 11:05 pm            

Storm-wary travelers find haven

Three years ago when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, Aosye Besmudez fled her New Orleans home and evacuated to Texas.

Friday night, as Hurricane Gustav threatened New Orleans, Besmudez and her family headed to Dalton after hearing about a shelter here from a family friend.

“I’m hoping to stay just until the hurricane gets over with,” Besmudez, 23, said through a translator. “I’m planning on going back to my own house as soon as I can.”

More than 60 evacuees from the Gulf Coast — including Besmudez — were staying at a shelter set up Monday by the Dalton/ Whitfield chapter of the American Red Cross at the First Baptist Church of Dalton. Another 22 evacuees were at Varnell United Methodist Church. Most of the evacuees stayed at Varnell United Methodist Church over the weekend before the Red Cross shelter opened.

More evacuees could be on the way. The Red Cross had 100 cots set up in the First Baptist Church gymnasium, said Laura Cleary, emergency services director for the Dalton/ Whitfield chapter of the American Red Cross. Evacuees were expected to come from different parts of the Gulf Coast, but the majority were from cities near New Orleans.

Nearly two million Gulf Coast residents evacuated as Hurricane Gustav churned through the Caribbean Sea on its way to making landfall in Louisiana Monday morning. About one million New Orleans residents boarded up the homes and businesses then boarded buses after Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city.

Although some forecasts predicted Gustav would strengthen to a Category 4 storm (on a scale of one to five), by Monday evening it had weakened to a Category 1. The hurricane hit Louisiana with winds of up to 110 miles per hour and the chance of dumping several feet of rain, but New Orleans dodged the worst of the storm.

Cleary said Katrina provided the Red Cross and local emergency management officials with a “crash course.” During Katrina, 22 residents stayed for 13 days at the Red Cross shelter at First Baptist Church and the Red Cross assisted with 250 cases from people passing through Dalton.

“You have to have a different way of dealing with them,” Cleary said. “A single-family fire is a lot different than the hurricane that they’re experiencing. It’s a different mindset with those folks. I think a lot of them have come with stuff this time. Last time, they didn’t come with anything because they left after it was too late.”

On Monday, there were five to 10 Red Cross volunteers at the shelter but Cleary said that number would climb to between 25 and 40 this week. Members of several local churches were also helping. Several companies had already donated items to the shelter. Calhoun-based Mohawk Industries and Delta gave blankets and pillows while the Chick-fil-A at Walnut Square Mall donated chicken strips.

The Aldersgate Sunday School class at the First United Methodist Church of Dalton had a hamburger and hot dog cookout for evacuees and volunteers Monday night.

“It all came together fairly quickly,” said Billy Beard, an associate pastor at the First United Methodist Church. “The call went out Saturday morning, and we had the time to do it today since most of us were off from work.”

The First Baptist Church is a prime place for the shelter because of its central location in Dalton, said Lane Ashworth, executive director of the local Red Cross chapter. It’s across the street from the Dalton Police Department and near the Dalton Fire Department and Dalton City Hall. The church is also within walking distance of the Dalton-Whitfield Library (in case evacuees need to use the Internet) and downtown Dalton.

“From a logistical standpoint, it just makes good sense to be here,” Ashworth said.

Cleary isn’t sure how long the shelter will stay open since another hurricane threatens south Georgia. Hurricane Hanna, which is the fourth storm of the hurricane season, could hit south Georgia and Savannah later this week. Hanna is expected to be several hundred miles off the southeastern tip of Cuba by Tuesday morning. To make matters more complicated, Tropical Storm Ike formed on Monday in the Atlantic Ocean and is tracking westward towards the United States.

“We’ll stay open as long as the need us,” Cleary said.

Claude Craig, deputy director of Whitfield County Emergency Services, was also at the shelter to help coordinate with local and state agencies such as the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. The Whitfield County Health Department is staffing the shelter with at least one nurse 24 hours a day, while a Dalton Police Department officer is providing security.

        

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