Minnesota’s Camp Ripley in line for 3,000 evacuees

09/04/2005

Kevin Duchschere,
Star Tribune
September 4, 2005

As early as this week, Minnesota will put out the welcome mat for 3,000 Gulf Coast region residents who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina. And it looks like they’ll be here long enough to need caps and gloves.

As part of a national plan developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to find long-term quarters for evacuees, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Saturday that within the next two weeks Minnesota will house hurricane victims temporarily at Camp Ripley, a National Guard training facility in central Minnesota near Little Falls. From there, they will be moved to cities and towns around the state that can provide long-term accommodations, perhaps in private homes or vacant apartments.

Pawlenty fully expects that some of the displaced people will stay in Minnesota—even though it is on the opposite, and chillier, end of the Mississippi River from where most of them live. He hopes that some may even bolster communities with sagging populations and stunted job growth.

“We know when people come to Minnesota, they like it,” he said.

He called upon citizens to help welcome the evacuees with contributions of fall and winter clothing for all sizes and ages.

People who want to help, Pawlenty said, should call either the new state hot line this weekend or dial 211, the United Way help line that he said will serve as a clearinghouse for hurricane-related inquiries.

3,000 vs. 5,000

State officials began scrambling to prepare for the evacuees Friday night, when FEMA asked Minnesota to relocate up to 5,000 hurricane victims.

Anjela Jackson searches for clothes.Denis PaquinAssociated PressOther states got similar requests. In the next few days four—Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia and Utah—will receive 35,000 from Louisiana. Michigan has offered to house 10,000 refugees, and West Virginia will receive as many as 3,000 in the next few days.

Pawlenty, surrounded by state agency heads, leaders of volunteer agencies and Mayors Randy Kelly of St. Paul and R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, announced the relocation plan at a midafternoon news conference at the State Capitol. Specifics were being developed, and Pawlenty said more details would be provided Tuesday.

Although FEMA asked Minnesota to make room for up to 5,000 evacuees, Pawlenty said federal officials were satisfied with the state’s initial plan to accommodate 3,000 at Camp Ripley. The facility can house 3,500 people in winterized quarters, and it has its own kitchens and medical facility.

FEMA would fly the evacuees to the Twin Cities, St. Cloud or Brainerd, where they would board state vehicles for the camp. There they would start having their health, educational and economic needs assessed. Several state agencies would be involved.

It’s estimated that most of the displaced would stay at Ripley for 30 to 45 days, although Pawlenty said that period could be shorter. If more evacuees arrive and space is tight, some could be assigned instead to local National Guard armories.

Pawlenty also said he would sign an executive order waiving state residency requirements for welfare and medical programs.

In the meantime, a committee of mayors assigned by Pawlenty—Kelly of St. Paul, Gene Winstead of Bloomington and Jeff Pelowski of Roseau—will enlist communities around the state to settle the evacuees, find them jobs and enroll their children in school.

‘The right thing to do’

Pawlenty said he hopes the federal government will eventually reimburse the state for part of the cost, which he said “won’t be insignificant.” But he said that if it were Minnesota in trouble, he hoped other states would rally to help.

“I don’t know what the price tag will be,” he said. “But it’s the right thing to do. It’s in the Minnesota tradition to do it.”

Mary Gray and Steve Doyle, members of a Wayzata law firm who are developing a website—http://www.minnesotahelpers.com—to place evacuees in private homes, welcomed the state’s plans but expressed concerns that the red tape will further complicate matters.

“We want them out of the domes. Let’s get them into homes. These are fellow Americans,” Doyle said.

Earlier Saturday, the state activated a hot line phone service to help victims find relatives and friends or register for assistance.

The hot line will be staffed through Monday at the State Emergency Operations Center in downtown St. Paul. As with the Sept. 11 attacks and the 1997 Red River valley flood, the center will coordinate the disaster response among a host of state agencies and volunteer groups, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

“It’s a clearinghouse location where we get representatives from all agencies in one room with phones and computers, and we can all talk to each other in one spot as we work through the issues,” he said.

The State Emergency Operations Center is separate from the state’s Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) regional center in New Brighton, which was activated Thursday. EMAC is a national network designed to help states communicate with each other and provide mutual aid in emergencies.

Minnesota is helping with disaster relief in other ways. Thirteen military police officers from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth have been activated to help keep order in the Gulf region. Guard members used a C-130 cargo plane to pick up pumping equipment in Wisconsin and fly it to Gulfport, Miss.

Five Department of Natural Resources employees joined a federal crew Wednesday headed for Mississippi to clear debris left by Katrina, and three DNR chainsaw crews were made available to help if needed.