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Washington bus convoy returns with one evacuee
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Ten buses sent from Washington to help evacuate victims of Hurricane Katrina returned nearly empty on Wednesday after volunteers could only find one person willing to come to the U.S. capital, a city official said.
The convoy drove around several days looking for people displaced by the disaster but poor federal planning hampered their efforts, city spokeswoman Sharon Gang said.
"As we were in touch with federal officials we were told different things along the way," Gang said. "There was a lack of coordination."
Those evacuees the volunteers did find said they didn't want to come to Washington, Gang said. She declined to speculate on why they did not want to come here.
Some 300 evacuees arrived in Washington by plane on Tuesday, though several said they had expected to go to Texas, according to news reports.
The bus convoy left Washington on Friday carrying water and other supplies, along with police officers and emergency medical technicians.
Volunteers planned to return by Sunday, but stuck around for several extra days after they could only find one person willing to leave for Washington.
"We are still ready to fill those 10 buses with people in need. Unfortunately, the chaotic situation on the ground down there has hampered efforts to create an organized evacuation plan," Mayor Anthony Williams said in a statement on Monday.
Gang said the mayor still considered the convoy a success because it brought needed supplies to the region, and one of the medical volunteers helped a man who was having a stroke.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesman declined to comment on Williams' statement, but said the rescue effort had so far placed 235,000 evacuees in 15 states.
"There are plenty of instances and examples showing that the evacuation has been fairly rough at the beginning but has turned into something pretty darn good," spokesman Brian Doyle said.