With its patient population whittled down to 14 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse will again house hundreds of evacuees – this time from areas of southwest Louisiana in anticipation of Hurricane Rita.
The shelter is preparing to accept 250 to 400 evacuees Thursday evening and accepted 15 evacuees from Thibodaux, La., on Wednesday. Greg Alford, one of the shelter managers at the fieldhouse, said the Louisiana Department of Emergency Preparedness notifies the shelter several hours before groups of patients arrive.
“We’re still a special needs shelter,” Alford said. “If Hurricane Rita continues northward, we would be ready to accept patients from other special needs shelters, hospitals and nursing homes in Thibodaux, New Iberia, Lake Charles and other areas.”
Shelter volunteers are setting up beds and preparing food for the influx of evacuees. Alford said the shelter had planned to shut down Thursday and move the people to more permanent living situations, but the shelter will have to stay open at least a week after the hurricane hits to return the evacuees to their homes.
“Hopefully, we won’t be notified, hopefully we will not be needed,” Alford said.
Contact Leslie Ziober at [email protected]