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Tempers Fray In Wait For Hurricane Rations
Mobile, Alabama (AFP) Aug 31, 2005 The line does not stop moving. Thousands of cars wait for hours to file by trucks where jail inmates and sheriff's deputies throw packs of ice, food and water into their open trunks. Hurricane Katrina caused such chaos that no-one knows when the lines will end. "There have been several disturbances," said Chief Sheriff's Deputy Mark Laborow. "There are some people that have been short tempered. They have gone two to three days without gas, there is a lot of frustration." But in general he added, most people have suffered the long queues for emergency supplies in good humour. Laborow estimated that on Wednesday between 3,000 and 4,000 cars went through the impressive distribution set up for the hard pressed people of Mobile which suffered major flooding in the hurricane. There are two lines of cars in the sweltering heat just off the main I-10 highway outside Mobile -- one of about 12 such distribution centres around the Gulf Coast port. Drivers are ordered to open the car trunks and drive slowly past the trucks while sheriff's deputies working alongside inmates from the Mobile County Metro jail throw two packs of emergency rations, three of ice and a water container into the back. By midafternoon, all the water was gone. Laborow said the rest would soon be gone and he was not sure if there would be more Thursday. "We only find out on the day." It is hard work for those throwing the packs but also tough for those in the queue. "It is hot and it is a long wait," said Borey Yann of nearby Irvington, who said he had waited three hours to get to the head of the queue, only to find the water was gone. "But we don't have much choice, there is nothing left around here," he added. Alabama only started receiving new supplies of gas for cars on Wednesday, two days after the devastating storm. Katrina triggered floods, ripped off roofs and uprooted trees in Alabama. No deaths have been reported in the state, unlike neighboring Mississippi and Louisiana where hundreds are feared dead. Mobile, an Alabama port city of 200,000 people located in a Gulf of Mexico bay, was flooded and many neighborhoods remained without power. But some gas stations reopened and queues of about 150 cars at a time formed outside each. About 30 trucks from neighboring states delivered drinking water, ice and the food rations to the emergency aid centres. "We'll keep it coming till as long as it's needed," said Jeroy Carroll, a volunteer helping the operation coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In Mississippi, to the west of Alabama, authorities asked the population to remain patient about receiving emergency aid, saying zones are still difficult to access and that they were focusing their efforts on finding victims. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters When the Earth Quakes A world of storm and tempest
New Orleans Colleges To Reopen This Week
New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) Jan 05, 2006Thousands of students and faculty are returning to New Orleans' eight colleges and universities this week for the first time since hurricane Katrina flooded the city four months ago. |
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