Evacuees Get Help From Local Red Cross

TAMPA - Kimberly Westbrook refused to leave, but her sister insisted they head to Florida that Sunday.

OK, said Westbrook, who is four months pregnant. ``I'll go, if you promise we won't be gone long.''

Of course, her sister said. They had to be back by Thursday to pick up their brother at the airport.

On that day, two days ago, Westbrook and her family sat in front of the television at her niece's house in Plant City, watching what Hurricane Katrina had done to their hometown, Slidell, La.

And on Friday, six days after they left Slidell - four adults, one 9-month-old and two dogs - they were at the Red Cross offices in Tampa applying for food and clothing help.

They were among about 115 people who wound up in Tampa and sought out the Red Cross after fleeing Hurricane Katrina, said Tim Teahan, spokesman for the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross. In Pasco County, the Red Cross has helped about 75 people, spokeswoman Connie Jackson said.

Most are staying with friends and relatives, Teahan said. As yet, no one has come to the one area shelter set up for hurricane evacuees, at the First United Methodist Church in Tarpon Springs.

``We're a bit surprised,'' he said. ``But that may change.''

American Red Cross officials haven't calculated how many people are homeless because of the hurricane. More than 95,000 people are in shelters in eight states, but tens of thousands more have either lost their homes or been barred from devastated towns.

Like Westbrook and her family, people fled in bunches.

In the past week, 12 relatives ended up at the home of Westbrook's niece, Crystal Colburn, so 14 people now share two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

``We've always been close.'' Colburn said.

``Now we're really getting close,'' Westbrook said. ``A little too close.''

She knows they can't live like this for long. But she also knows they can't go home.

``The mayor [of Slidell] said, `Don't come back here. There's nothing to come back to.' There's no stores, no gas, no water, no electricity. It's like it's dead,'' Westbrook said, sitting in an office at the Tampa Red Cross. She dropped her head and scraped at a ragged fingernail.

``It's a sad feeling,'' she said. ``It's a lonely feeling. Desperate.

``You live in a community, and there's all the faces you see every day,'' she said. ``Now, I may not see them again. They may never come back.''

She's sure she'll go back, but it could be months, perhaps a year.

Teahan said he wouldn't be surprised to see housing demands rise in the coming months. Some organizations are traveling to the damaged states to pick up evacuees.

But homes are coming available through Web sites set up to pair people who have space with people who need it. They are www.katrinahousing.org, run by the American Red Cross, and www.hurricanehousing.org, set up by liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org.

Other help also will be available. Beginning Tuesday, Katrina victims can get food and clothing at Metropolitan Ministries, 2301 N. Tampa St.

Reporters Todd Leskanic, Steve Kornacki and Sherri Ackerman contributed to this report. Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834.