The Ex Presidents Help

[editor]

DATE: 9/5/2005

Former Presidents George H.W. and Bill Clinton will announce the creation of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina

To: Houston Regional Media Outlets

R E L I AN T C E N T E R J I C

Joint Information Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 4, 2005

(HARRIS COUNTY, TX) Jim McGrath, spokesman for the Office of Former President Bush, announced that former Presidents George H.W. and Bill Clinton will announce the creation of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The two former presidents will address the news media at 9 a.m. CDT on Monday, September 5th, then visit hurricane survivors at the Reliant Center.

The Reliant Park shelters remain at capacity. Over 25,000 evacuees are now sheltered in Reliant Park; the George R. Brown Convention Center has over 2,900 evacuees. Two new shelters are being opened in Galveston with another one in Austin. Evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama now total at 1.5 million persons.

Every bus that arrives at the park is processed and every occupant is medically triaged. Those with health conditions, the elderly, and families are then sheltered in the Reliant Park shelters. Remaining evacuees are then sent to other shelters.

The medical facilities in Reliant Park are treating an average of 50 patients an hour. Over 4,000 patients have been treated. Those with serious illnesses are transported to local hospitals. Dehydration and exposure to contaminated floodwaters have caused many of the illnesses in the evacuee population. Hypertension and diabetes are prevalent as well.

Dr. Kenneth Mattox with the Harris County Hospital District noted that there has been a tremendous outpouring of medical volunteerism for the victims. All aides given credentials to help in these efforts have been screened for the appropriate professional licenses. The Center for Disease Control arrived today and is currently meeting with various officials to start processing victims. There are 270 children that have been admitted into the on-site hospital in Reliant Arena. Also, two evacuees have been hired onto the staff for the medical area and they are continuously looking for medical staff among the evacuees.

To date, over 20,000 people have volunteered at the Reliant Park facilities. In the past 24 hours alone, more than 7500 volunteers have been processed; of these, more than 600 were volunteers from the medical field. Volunteers are still needed and should call Volunteer Houston at 713-965-0031.

If people want information about taking evacuees into their home, visit these two websites, www.shareyourhouse.org and www.craigslist.com.

The Housing Authorities are being contacted to locate apartments and homes to be offered to the victims. At this time, elderly and those with special needs are being moved to a separate location that can accommodate up to 400 persons. Over 100 families have been placed in housing; another approximately 500 have signed leases for housing.

Evacuees in the shelters have access to hundreds of phone lines and over 60 computers with internet access.

All lost children questions should be referred to the Children's Assessment Center. Call 713-986-3300.

To find loved ones, family members should call 1-877-568-3317 (1-877-LOVEDIS) or go online to www.familylinks.icrc.org or www.redcross.org. You may also call your local Red Cross office.

Charles Bacarisse, Harris County District Clerk, reported that they are currently working with the Texas Attorney General's office to help those that receive child support in Louisiana to now get a change of address so that those funds would be diverted to their new location, receive federal assistance, get employment help from the Texas Workforce Commission, and get unemployment insurance.

Kevin Hoffman, member of the Board of Education for the Houston Independent School District, has announced that the district will now register children for school at both the Reliant Park and George R. Brown sites. Over 6,000 children are expected to register. They will be bused to school from Reliant Park and are expected to begin school on September 12, 2005. Educators who are evacuees are encouraged to contact the Houston Independent School District's Human Resources Department for information on possible employment.

Officials have asked that those donating clothing items to the various donation drop-off points to please pre-sort by adult or child designation, then plainly mark each item by gender and size. There is a critical need for larger sized clothing.

Harris County Judge Bob Eckels and Mayor Bill White are asking that cots be donated as well and want to thank all of those who have given in any way to these relief efforts.

Drop-off locations are Berean 7th Day Adventist Church, 2119 St. Emanuel Street,

Gulf Haven Church, 10716 Sabo Road, and West Houston Church, 2390 West Sam Houston Parkway North. Linda Walker is the Donations Management Coordinator and can be contacted at 832-928-4937.