Houston evacuees balking at plans to move to cruise ships

By Aussiegirl

I think it's a terrible idea to put people on cruise ships. I can see all sorts of problems developing here, starting with security issues. Unless they put a bunch of policemen on board, which would be a waste of badly needed security personnel on land, a lot of these ships may turn into floating Superdomes, with all the problems of violence and disorder that plagued that ill-conceived shelter. Furthermore, how are people supposed to begin putting their lives together when they are bobbing about in an ocean (still subject to hurricanes for months to come, BTW), where they have no access to information about finding family members, locating new housing, finding new jobs and generally getting about the business of restarting their lives. Bad idea that should be shelved.

Here's part of the story from the Houston Chronicle: "Today's relocation of about 4,000 evacuees from the Astrodome and Houston's other giant shelters to two Galveston-based cruise ships has been delayed because shelter residents don't want to go. Volunteers trying to fill buses bound for Kentucky also found few takers.
'Some of these people are still looking for their families,' said Andrew Biar, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'They don't want to go. They feel safe here.'

'The dome is home for them,' said Lt. Joe Leonard of the U.S. Coast Guard and area commander for the Houston shelters. 'For residents, another immediate relocation is simply too much, too soon.'

Some residents prefer to focus on finding family members while others want more time to explore options for getting on with their lives. All are struggling to comprehend the dramatic changes that have happened to them in less than a week"