Any New Permanent Residents as Result of Katrina?

[Adam's Apple]

I was just wondering if any of your towns/cities are getting any new permanent residents as a result of the Katrina disaster? We had an article in our local paper a few days back stating that over 100 new families will be joining our community permanently as a result of Katrina. The Red Cross had housed 125 families in an empty dorm on campus scheduled to be torn down, and several evacuee families had come to the area to temporarily live with relatives. The article said that 93 of the 125 families housed on campus have decided to stay in the community permanently, and several more families that had been housed with relatives have made the same decision.

I am assuming these people have lived on the Gulf Coast all their lives, so I am curious to see if they will want to stay here after they go though one of our Midwest winters. After contending with our snow and ice storms, my guess is that they will be looking southward again to sunnier climes come spring. If they can adjust to our winters, they will have chosen a very nice place to live, but it will never be New Orleans climate-wise.

 

[dilloduck]

I was just wondering if any of your towns/cities are getting any new permanent residents as a result of the Katrina disaster? We had an article in our local paper a few days back stating that over 100 new families will be joining our community permanently as a result of Katrina. The Red Cross had housed 125 families in an empty dorm on campus scheduled to be torn down, and several evacuee families had come to the area to temporarily live with relatives. The article said that 93 of the 125 families housed on campus have decided to stay in the community permanently, and several more families that had been housed with relatives have made the same decision.

I am assuming these people have lived on the Gulf Coast all their lives, so I am curious to see if they will want to stay here after they go though one of our Midwest winters. After contending with our snow and ice storms, my guess is that they will be looking southward again to sunnier climes come spring. If they can adjust to our winters, they will have chosen a very nice place to live, but it will never be New Orleans climate-wise.

I'm not sure about permanent but we have tens of thousands of them living in Texas. All shelters are scheduled to close this week but they have vouchers from the Red Cross and FEMA to pay thier rent for 6 months. All thier furnture and clothes have been donated to them, they are on our food stamp program and have been given $2,000 cash.
Thousands of the school age kids are not attending school with thier parents blessing so there is now concerned how far behind they will get in their education.
I don't expect any of them will be going anywhere until they have exhausted all means of obtaining free handouts (6 months). Then things outta get mighty interesting.

 

[no1tovote4]

We have quite a few at the old Lowry AFB that have been on the news saying they are planning on sticking around.

 

[Adam's Apple]

I'm hoping the Midwestern work ethic and sense of personal responsibility will rub off on these people, and we won't end up having more than 100 additional familities added to our welfare rolls. How realistic am I being about people's ability to change after years of having the government provide for your every need? However, since they've elected to stay in the community, we've got to be hopeful they will turn out to be productive and law-abiding citizens.

 

[Hobbit]

We've got a bunch here in Atlanta. Some of them are reforming gangs, but many are simply carving out a new life. Those guys are all very friendly and hardworking.

 

[Adam's Apple]

...many are simply carving out a new life. Those guys are all very friendly and hardworking.

How I hope that's what we've got too.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Through my job, I have spoken with an evacuee whose daughter has enrolled in our school district. The mother has been working, they recently rented their own apartment, and seem very nice. She was from a suburb of New Orleans.