Omaha ready for evacuees (or is it refugees)

Preparing For Evacuees

The good people of Nebraska are always caring about their fellow man. Every time a hurricane strikes the South, some folks here load up trucks with relief supplies and head off to help the victims. This time it will be different. Hurricane Katrina was so nasty that some of the victims will need to come to us. I read about it here: WOWT | Preparing For Evacuees.

"Omaha's Civic Auditorium is reportedly set up to handle as many as 500 hurricane victims. Emergency officials aren't sure when people might arrive but when they do they say they'll be ready with everything they need."

That's the Civic Auditorium, not the Qwest Center. I thought I might get to see these preparations by pointing my browser at WOWT's CityCAM network . I came across the photo above. No kidding. At first I thought a truck loaded with inflatables had crashed, the balloons inflating on impact like air bags. But now I can see that Omaha isn't about to repeat the leadership mistakes of New Orleans. (Thanks Bubba!) No SuperDome fiasco for us. Our evacuees are going to have FUN.

I note that the Feed Trough story from WOWT refers to the storm victims coming here as evacuees right up until the end of the article, where they are called refugees. For the best take on this non-issue, I again refer the reader to Bubba's Back Porch thinkin'.

Meanwhile, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack said that Iowa could get as many as 5,000 Gulf Coast residents. They'll be sorry they picked Iowa when they see the fun our evacuees are having.