LITTLE ROCK — Managers of the 47 shelters set up for Hurricane Gustav evacuees in community centers and churches around the state said a number of the evacuees who arrived in Arkansas on their own left the state Wednesday. But shelters remained busy serving people who were moving in from hotels and motels.
State Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said that as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, about 2,711 evacuees remained in county shelters across the state, compared with about 2,800 Tuesday night.
"All the evacuees are quite antsy. They want to go home, and we understand," Jackson said. "Louisiana is not encouraging traffic and people to return."
The Emergency ManagementDepartment did, however, issue a release Wednesday advising that 22 parishes in Louisiana had given permission for people to return. They are: Acadia, Allen, Assumption, Ascension, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Iberia, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne and Washington.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had also opened the city to those who wished to return, according to local news reports - although he was still discouraging people from doing so.
Many of the evacuees in Arkansas seemed to be taking heed.
In Jefferson County, Vi Daniels, a volunteer with the American Red Cross, said the Pine Bluff Convention Center had actually seen a slight increase inthe number of evacuees staying overnight Wednesday. About 100 were registered with the shelter Wednesday afternoon compared with 80 the night before.
She said some had left but that others were arriving after staying in hotels.
"It's kind of flexible," she said of the numbers. "It comes and it goes."
The same was true at the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Little Rock. The shelter reported 325 evacuees staying Wednesday night, compared with about 284 who were registered Tuesday afternoon.
That shelter was running on two small generators Wednesday. Half of the church was without power.
"It's just another thing you have to deal with," said Brigette Williams, a spokesman for the Red Cross.
In contrast to Jefferson andPulaski counties, Union County was able to close one of the five shelters it had opened, said Yancy Kyle, the county's director of emergency management.
"I think we've had a quarter [of evacuees] go home," Kyle said.
The county had 419 in its shelters Monday night.
Kyle said that from the conversations he had with the evacuees, he expects the majority of the people who stayed Wednesday night to be on the road back home today.
Jackson said that could be true also for the 2,300 people staying at Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith.
He said a joint announcement from Arkansas and Louisiana could come as early as today and spur plans to return those evacuees.
Delivered by bus and plane, those evacuees will be able totake the same transportation for their return trip, when that time comes, said Arkansas National Guard spokesman Maj. Keith Moore.
"Hopefully, we'll have something [today] that will give us a better time frame," Moore said.
In the meantime, evacuees' requests for financial assistance were increasing, shelter managers said.
"One of the problems, a lot of people hitched rides with other people," said the Rev. Hezekiah Stewart Jr., pastor of Moody Chapel in Little Rock. "They absolutely don't have a way to get back home."
Sandi Angeletti, a volunteer at First Baptist Church in West Memphis, said she was not sure how to answer the requests for help.
"We don't have any information," she said.
"We do have people workingon that."
At least one person was helped in Desha County by a local donation, said Doug Weatherford, the shelter manager at First Baptist Church in Dumas.
"Last time, FEMA sent out gift cards, and as far as I knew, none of that was going to happen this year," he said.
Williams, of the Red Cross, said no plans were being made by her organization to help those who were out of money for gas or food.
"I don't know what's going to happen with that," she said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that evacuees who register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency will get help with hotel bills, according to an Associated Press report.
It was unclear whether they would be reimbursed for any other travel expenses.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 09/04/2008