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Viewpoints Hurricane Floyd the aftermath Writers express concerns about the good, the bad and the ugly of the massive evacuation of Georgias coast Red Cross gets help Editor: In anticipation of Hurricane Floyd, thousands of evacuees from Savan nah and the coastal area arrived in Middle Georgia for shelter. The American Red Cross-Houston-Mid dle Georgia Chapter was tasked to provide shelter at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry for approximately 12,000 military and civilian personnel from Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air field. However, the mission quickly changed to a civilian shelter that served over 5,000 evacuees from the Georgia coast. Florida and South Carolina who were caught in the incredible evacuation traffic. The Perry site was the largest shelter in Georgia for Hurricane Fioyd. Addi tionally, the Perry Recreation Center was used as a special needs shelter for people with medical problems. The Houston Middle Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross is grateful for the entire shelter team who worked so hard and effectively to satisfy our mission of providing for the survival needs of our guests: • Forty staff and volunteers from the Houston County Emergency Management Agency and Houston County Fire-Rescue gave outstand ing support Chief Jimmy Williams was on scene 72 hours without a break, constantly making things work successfully and coordinating all supporting government agencies. Vicki Thompson, Region Four Coor dinator for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, was on scene continuously. • Over 30 employees from the City of Perry Police. Fire, Rescue and Util ities departments were available on the scene and responded to support any request. Police Chief George Pot ter was on scene constantly, and Fire Chief Gary Hamlin worked tirelessly. Staff from the Perry Recreation Department provided roundthe-dock assistance in hous ing the special needs shelter at Rozar Park. • The Houston County Sheriffs ] Office, City ui Warner Robins Police i Department, • City at Centerville * Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol provided security. Over 100 Public Health nurses from throughout middle Georgia worked with the -Red Cross in taking care of the medical needs of the shel ter. 60 employees of Perry Hospital. Houston Medical Center and Hous ton Healthcare Complex, as well as Summerhill Elder Care provided medical care and supplies to over 150 individuals at the Rozar Park shelter. The emergency departments of Perry Hospital and Houston Med ical Center provided care to 200 shelter guests. Prescription medica tions were filled lor free by local pharmacists. Thirty-two members of the South ern Baptist Disaster Relief prepared approximately 10,000 meals over the three-day period. • The staff and executive manage ment of the Georgia National Fair grounds and Agricenter gave their full support of the shelter operation. • Military volunteers from Robins Air Force Base and civilian volun teers from the Family Support Ser vice, certified by the Red Cross for Disaster Relief Operations, provided our guests with direct Red Cross Disaster services. Military personnel from Fort Stewart volunteered wher ever needed. Fifteen members of the Good Samaritan Travel Club who were meeting at the Agricenter volun teered to serve food during meal times. The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) sent six buses and 48 drivers to transport shelter guests back to Savannah/Chatham County. Red Cross Disaster Relief Volun teers. including 10 from the Houston County Department of Family and Children Services, provided direct services to the shelter operation. Ten volunteers from the Houston Middle Georgia Red Cross Chapter have traveled to eastern North Carolina to assist with the Hood situation caused by Hurricane Floyd. Over 300 total shelter team mem bers provided Red Cross Shelter and Disaster Services, along with many volunteers from churches, civic groups and organizations through- Houston Home Journal P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga. 31069 email homejni@hoin.net (912) 987 1823 (voice) • (912) 988-1181 (fax) Bob Tribble President Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager Ellen T. Green Advertising Director Phil Clark Sports Joan Dorsett Lifestyles Torey Jolley News and Classified Alline Kent Sports Pauline Lewis Lifestyles Rob Mead News and Circulation out our community. This team was extended the absolute support of Mayor Jim "Worrall, City of Perry; Sherrill Stafford, Chairman of the Houston County Board of Commis sioners: Mayor Donald Walker, City of Warner Robins; the Hospital Author ity of Houston County and Houston Healthcare Complex. The Houston County Board of Education approved the availability of schools for overflow and was ready to close schools if they had been needed for Red Cross shel ter operations. Every local resource was available to serve our shelter guests, and we are indeed grateful for the outstanding state and local gov ernment support of our Disaster Operations at the Perry shelters. On behalf of the American Red Cross Houston Middle Georgia Chap ter, thank you to all who volunteered their time and talents to provide shel ter for our guests during Hurricane Floyd. It was truly the most out standing team I have ever been asso ciated with in my ten years as Exec utive Director of this chapter. We are very grateful for the opportunity to serve our fellowman. We are especial ly grateful to all of the support forces that made the effort so successful, and, as always. "When help can't wait """Tm Pmmsr Guiatfr " ■ ~~ TESTING! TESTING! NEW 6 OF THE PEATH OF NiY CANPIPACT 16 PREMATURE. 16 THI6 THING WORKING? . oAmm Rambling around Perry - some notes It’s that time of year again - with a hint of coolness in the mornings and the darkness falling a little earlier. Almost time for children to start wearing sweaters to school and los ing them before noon. Almost time for cats to start waiting at the door in the morning, bushy-tailed and purring, hoping to come in from the cold. Almost time for October lilies. Almost time to make soups and stews again. Almost time - if we still had butane heaters - to find a box of table matches and get the heat going. (Well, at least in the mornings. We all know that it’s going to be warm by noon!) Happy October, everybody! • •• No dampened spirits Congratulations to everybody at Ferry Presbyterian Church. Their new sanctuary is beautiful, with big windows to let the sun shine in. There wasn’t much sunshine during their dedication service on Sunday, though. In fact, there was thunder and lightning and a real downpour, but nobody seemed to mind. It was a very happy occasion. • •• Well said I have on hand a copy of Rep. Larry Walker's charming tribute to the late Celestine Sibley, which was published in Georgia’s Capitol Report last month. Here's part of his explanation of why the legendary Charlotte Perkins News and Composition Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping Our Policies Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on this page under the label Our Views reflect the position of the Houston Home Journal. Signed columns and letters on this page (and elsewhere in this newspaper) reflect the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of this newspaper. Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 300 words and include addresses and a tele phone number for verification purposes. Letters are not published without verification. Letters should be sent to P.O. Drawer M, Perry. Ga.. 31069 or brought to the news Page 3A Wed.. Sept. 29, 1999 ... We'll be there!” Sam Register Houston County Red Cross Another Viewpoint . (EDITOR’S NOTE: In the dasrs following the Hurricane Floyd evacuation, some leaders and resi dents of the Savannah area had harsh words to say about the relief centers in Perry. (After reporting on the story, members of the editorial board of the Savannah Morning News draft ed this opinion piece which appeared in the Sept. 22 issue of that paper.) Perry: We're sorry Cities who opened their doors to Savannah-area evacuees deserved better than an increased crime rate and rude visitors. The residents of Periy deserve an apology from Chatham County public officials, especially from the Sheriffs Office. A little more than 10.000 people live in Perry, a Houston County town just south of Macon. This week, they saw their ranks swell by more than a third as about 3,500 Chatham Coun ty evacuees sought shelter there irom Charlotte Perkins Home Journal Staff columnist and author was so well known and well liked in Georgia. “...She didn't put on airs. She was strong and assertive but polite and kind, she was firm but fair. She always had an opinion but listened to yours. She was Southern and was proud of this, but she was always tolerant and respectful of others. She knew the wealthy and the well-con nected and the politically powerful, but she pulled for the underdog and less fortunate. Perhaps she was a saint, but she would not like being called one. In short, she was a won derful person." • •• Yard Sale woes Just about every week we get two or three calls for yard sale advertise ments after the classified ad dead line, which is 10 a.m. Monday. Note that it’s 10 a.m., not noon. We love to keep Perryans informed about yard sales, but the deadline’s for paper office at 807 Carroll St.. Perry. Our liability lor an error will not exceed the cost of space occupied by the error. We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or sub mitter) materials unless a stamped, return address envelope is Included. Our Goal The Houston Home Journal Is published proudly for the citizens of Houston and adjoining counties by Houston Publications Inc.. Perry. Ga. Our goad is to produce quali ty. profitable, community-oriented newspapers that you. our readers, arc proud of. We will reach this goal through hard work, teamwork loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the tnith. Houston Horn Journal the threats of Hurricane Floyd. For the most part, this immediate and massive influx of people posed no problem at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and the Agricenter building, which were turned into emergency shelters. But the buses from Chatham County apparently included a few trouble-makers. On Monday, about a dozen inmates were released early from the Chatham County Detention Center. The jail was dealing with about 150 inmates more than it has the capaci ty to hold, officials said. The released inmates, jailed for misdemeanor crimes such as disor derly conduct and public indecency, still had a week or so of their sen tences to complete. They were dropped off downtown on Monday to find their way out of the city. On Tuesday, another six or so who had completed their sentences were released downtown. They too had to find a way to escape the hurricane everyone thought was heading for Savannah. Chatham County Sheriff A 1 St. Lawrence says he has no information that any of those former inmates real, so please - if you're planning one - give us a call before 10 a.m. Monday. Better yet, give us a call on Friday or Thursday. Why wait until ground zero? • •• Curb Service Please note that the Health Department will start giving flu shots on Monday. They’re offering ”curb service", so if you have a family member who would find it easier not to walk into the Health Department, all you have to do is go inside and tell them, and they bring the shot out to the car. How's that for service? • •• Paso Finos Savannah evacuees weren't only visitors in Perry last week. The national Paso Fino Assocation was also here with their beautiful horses. Joan Dorsett and I went to the Fri day night show, and felt like V.l.P.'s after A 1 Berry, Paso Fino spokesman, insisted that we have ring-side seats. We had a great view of the show and could have reached out and touched the horses a few times, but - as with many good things - there’s a disad vantage. The closer you are to the ring, the more likely you are to get hit by the little clumps of dirt kicked up by the horses. Not that any of the horse lovers seemed to mind! were on the public buses to Perry. Maybe not. But it seems obvious that some of these folks would walk the two or three blocks to the Savan nah Chic Center and get on the buses there. Someone in authority, such as the sheriff, should have notified Periy and Houston County officials that some petty criminals may be on their way. Nobody did. So a peaceful little town suddenly found itself with 3,500 temporary residents and a few new problems. Perry Police Chief George Potter said his residents were reporting car and house break-ins and other crimes that normally don’t occur there. He had no evidence that the evac uees were directly responsible and no arrests were made. Still, the crimes can’t automatically be written off as coincidences. To make matters worse, a small number of other evacuees didn’t appreciate the hospitality of the com munity and the American Red Cross, which set up the shelter. At one point, they began chanting obsceni ties at their hosts. Talk about ingrat itude. It's a wonder shelter officials didn’t order them to take their foul language outside and lock the doors behind - them. All wasn't perfect in Perry, Two people running a motel there jacked up room prices from about S3O to nearly $l5O They have been charged with theft by deception and other price-gouging accusations are being investigated. Taking advantage of people in such circumstances must not be tolerat ed. Nevertheless, the citizens of Perry didn't deserve the treatment they got from their guests from the coast. Savannah Mayor Floyd Adams Jr. is expected to apologize to Perry offi cials for the problems. That’s a good start. Sheriff St. Lawrence needs to add his regrets for not letting officials there know that some problems may be on the way. And why even spring criminals from the jail, which is built to withstand bad storms, in the first place? Savannah and Chatham County residents once again may need to flee an oncoming hurricane or other potential disaster. A welcome mat in communities like Perry is much pre ferred to a slamming door. The Savannah Morning News Shelter in a storm Editor: I read the article you published with wonder at the lack of gratitude displayed by some of the people of Savannah. I really feel most of the people from Savannah do not feel the same as those in your article. 1 know that you do not want to appear one sided and, with this in mind, 1 would like to send you a copy of a letter that was forwarded to me from the Perry Chamber of Commerce. It was a letter written concerning our treat ment of one of 13 families that we housed in our executive corporate apartments at The Hamptons of Perry during the storm. I am the property manager at The Hamptons of Perry. We are a new apartment complex on the Perry Parkway. My husband Ron (she calls him Earl in the letter) and my 70 year old moth er, Catherine Simons, worked for three days trying to help the evac uees. We spent our time (day and night) caring for as many as we could fit into the apartments. We offered a beautiful place to stay, hot coffee and donuts, and a meeting room where they could talk out the stress from the storm. We allowed them to use our phone to try and contact family members. We checked in peo ple at 11:30 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. due to the terrible traffic Jams. Thanks is in order to Colony Furniture rentals in Macon and Accessories Etc. for allowing us to use their furnishings at no charge and this allowed us to charge a very minimal clean up fee and put these families in who had no place to go. One older gentleman was with his family (The Cummings fam ily) at the shelter when my husband went over to get some more people, and he had a problem with his feet. He could barely walk and so Ron put him on the golf cart and backed him up to the door. When Ron opened the See LETTERS, Page 4A Member of Georgia Press Association and National Newspaper Association. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establish ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Your right to read this newspaper is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Houston Home Journal (ÜBPB 000471) is published weekly for $21.40 per year (including sains tax) by Houston Publications Inc., 807 Carrol) St., Parry, On., 31088. Peri odicals Class Postage paid at Perry, On. POBTMABTXR : Send address changes to the Houston Homs Journal, P.O. Drawer M. Perry, On. 31089. ISSN: 1078- 1574.