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New Orleans evacuees arrive in Battle Creek and await transportation to Fort Custer Training Center, where they'll stay for a week. "The delay in getting help for these people is a national disgrace. We're here to make sure that doesn't go any farther," said Kalamazoo Mayor Robert Jones.Katrina victims search for solace in Michigan
First evacuees arrive in Battle Creek. 'It's not their home, but we'll try to make it their home.'
BATTLE CREEK -- Two jetliners bringing the first 289 hurricane evacuees to Michigan landed Monday evening at the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base.
The homeless men, women and children and their pets arrived on Delta 757 jets from New Orleans -- one at 5:05 p.m., the second five minutes later. Only a few of the evacuees were children; many were elderly. Eighteen were in wheelchairs.
"We understand their last seven days have been hell. We hope their next seven will be 180 degrees (difference) from that," said National Guard Capt. Steve Webb.
Curious local residents lined the high fence surrounding the air base to catch a glimpse of the arriving evacuees. Until they are settled in, they will be insulated from reporters, officials said.
"They were really in quite good spirits, all things considered," said Terri Franklin of the Kalamazoo Red Cross. "One lady is expecting a baby in a month. She said it will be a Michigan baby."
The Rev. Louis Felton, pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Kalamazoo, was among those who met the planes.
"I saw the whole range of emotions: little kids just happy to be anywhere, one elderly woman who was crying, she was so moved," Felton said.
"It's been so remote, seeing it on the news. But for them to get off that plane, you realize it's all of our problems. These are not refugees. They are fellow Americans."
Added Kalamazoo Mayor Robert Jones: "The delay in getting help for these people is a national disgrace. We're here to make sure that doesn't go any farther."
From the airstrip, the storm victims were loaded onto school buses and moved down the road to the Fort Custer Training Center, where they are expected to stay for up to a week.
As communities and organizations step forward to host them, the evacuees will be assigned to temporary homes across the state. They could remain in Michigan for three to nine months.
An aide to Gov. Jennifer Granholm said no decisions have been made as to who will go where.
After their medical needs were determined Monday, the storm survivors received blankets, towels, plastic bags stuffed with personal items and a state identification card that will allow them to come and go from the base as they please.
They will live in spotless, air-conditioned barracks. The single adults will bed down in open facilities with bunk beds and wooden foot lockers. Families will stay in barracks with single rooms containing twin beds, a desk, a lamp and a wardrobe.
"We want to keep the families together," said Lt. Col. Jim Bartolacci. "They'll be exhausted. It's not their home, but we'll try to make it their home."
Granholm said the state is equipped to accept up to 10,000 evacuees, but it was uncertain Monday when, or if, more would follow the initial 285.
The governor received a federal waiver that will allow the state to distribute food stamps to the storm victims. She has asked for a waiver to allow Michigan to give them cash assistance, too.
Granholm requested a federal disaster declaration for Michigan, to allow the state to recoup from the federal government what it spends to care for evacuees.
And she lifted weight and size restrictions on the transportation of manufactured housing units, so they can quickly be moved to where they are needed.
Most of the evacuees' initial needs -- such as clothing and food -- will be met through volunteer efforts.
Businesses and individuals statewide are donating to the cause, with more than 1,000 calling a state help line to coordinate efforts.
In the Battle Creek area, private donations to food banks and churches have surged. Stores including Meijer, Wal-Mart and Kmart donated water, clothes, toothbrushes and other toiletries. A bookstore donated children's books, and hotels gave away towels and bed linens.
Meanwhile, Michigan's outpouring of relief efforts for Louisiana and Mississippi continued to grow. Some gestures were large, some small:
• On a day perfect for a frozen treat, Gelato Di Roma in Dearborn planned to donate all its Monday receipts to the Red Cross.
• Grosse Pointe Woods residents collected a truckload of bottled water, canned goods, diapers and toiletries.
• Fans put $40,000 into buckets as they entered Michigan Stadium on Saturday, and university officials estimated another $10,000 was raised by program sales. Members of the women's and men's swimming teams and local Red Cross volunteers collected the donations, including a wad of five $100 bills from an anonymous donor.
• Nine-year-old Megan Neiheisel and her 5-year-old sister, Lauren, set up a booth on their street on Kingspath in Rochester Hills, selling their toys, lemonade and chocolate chip cookies, to raise money to send to the Red Cross. The girls raised $80, and their parents promised to match it.
"I just had the idea to do it," said Megan. "They look like they need some help."
The Associated Press and Detroit News Staff Writer Oralandar Brand-Williams contributed to this report. You can reach Mark Hornbeck at (517) 371-3660 or mhornbeck@detnews.com.
Evacuees from New Orleans area arrive in Battle Creek and board the bus to be transported to Fort Custer Training Center.
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