It's been four weeks since Hurricane Laura came ashore in Western Louisiana. Following the savage destruction wrought by Laura, hotels in New Orleans have opened their doors and have been hosting evacuees.
The 36 hotels, averaging over 330 people per location are filled to brim with evacuees.
“We have over 12,000 Lake Charles guests in 36 hotels,” says Stephen Perry, CEO of New Orleans and Company, the tourism and marketing agency for New Orleans.
Those hotels providing rooms for families who lost homes in the Hurricane zone are happy to return the favor after Katrina sent New Orleans residents fleeing west back in 2005.
Perry says the repayment of sorts serves an important purpose, “I think what it’s done is provide some hope and comfort and good clean shelter for those who have lost so much.”
In New Orleans, there is quiet, calm, order, the ability for evacuees to start on picking up the pieces of their shattered existence and start the rebuilding process with a helping hand from FEMA.
“Many of them have lost everything and they’re really dependent on the Federal Government, State Government and our properties to host to them,” Perry explains.
“The Federal Government, of course, comes in and helps support financially,” Perry says. “The evacuees under these kinds of circumstances provided a little bit of revenue to the hotels which is nice.”
What might have made it nicer is if local restaurants could’ve catered to the evacuees, but the contract to provide 36,000 meals a day went to larger catering companies.
But, Perry says negotiations are already in discussions to provide locally prepared meals for evacuees the next time.
The participating properties are contracted by FEMA and paid regularly: “The contracts have been running either in one week or ten day increments. We fully expect this to continue, probably for the next two weeks”
Perry says he’s already starting to see people checking out and returning to the hurricane zone:
“You’re going to see a slow reduction, but at least for the next two-plus weeks we fully expect to be hosting our Lake Charles neighbors.”
Housing evacuees in hotels (non-congregant shelter) is a first for New Orleans. Normally, evacuees would be housed in large open spaces, like Morial Convention Center, with cots provided.
Perry says this is an example that will likely be put in place to help people looking to get away from the wreckage of Hurricane Sally: “And I think it is a great example, because you can’t create open shelters fast enough, where as we can help people by providing them some dignity at a time when they have taken quite a battering.”