I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp

And so the story changes again...

www.kfor.com...

DAVIS, Okla. -- Volunteers and relief workers remain ready to receive hurricane evacuees at the Falls Creek church camp in southern Oklahoma, but still no word on when or if the evacuees will arrive.

They were supposed to have arrived first on Sunday night, then on Monday night. They're still not there. Furthermore, our preacher and the host we spoke to at the cabin both stated these refugees were coming "straight from somewhere in Louisiana" but this article states these will be people brought from Texas (I assum from the Astrodome).

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management says the department remains in contact with officials in Texas and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Church volunteers from around the state spent the weekend preparing the 360-acre Falls Creek camp in Davis for as many as three-thousand evacuees. An official at the camp says the facility is ready to provide food, medical attention, clothes and shelter for the displaced people.

Please note this is the same news agency that yesterday stated the Red Cross was working with the SBC to meet "sheltering needs". I called the news desk yesterday and asked why they had an article so wrought with erroneous statements. The lady I spoke with asked if I worked for Falls Creek. I stated I didn't and explained why we had been over there on Monday. She then says "you'll have to contact some one associated with Falls Creek organization and have them call us in order to get this corrected". EXCUSE ME??? THAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB - JOURNALIST!!!

Please note that today Red Cross and Salvation Army have not been mentioned, credit has been given to the church members of the various churches who worked their nipples and nuts off over the weekend, and the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency and FEMA are now referenced in this article.

hehehe...you can't keep ATS down!

The insanity and discrepancies continue.

A member of our church was sent by the preacher with a load of supplies yesterday (the preacher gave him his "credentials" to get in). He dropped the supplies off inside the camp. He states there were refugees everywhere.

*sigh*

I'm going to get hold of this person later in the day and speak with him personally to find out if he was allowed free access to the cabin or if he had to drop things at the "central warehouse".

I'll report back later. I'm getting tired of the mish-mash mess coming from the press.

Wow, Val, with all the places this thread had been emailed to.......you are going to be famous!! ( can I have an autograph?! lol)

You may be the reason they've changed their story somewhat!!

Another one that might be interested is the Times Picayune in NO, they have cut FEMA noooo slack, and might want to follow up on your lead. ( It's your story, I'll leave that up to you.)

Originally posted by Watchman77


I believe many of the evacuees will be used as Union breakers...
Walmart has already said they will make jobs for many of the evacuees... Walmart is having a lot of trouble with the Union right now, so what better way of getting their employees in line than to threaten their jobs with people who will be willing to work for lower wages & even less benefits?


[edit on 7-9-2005 by Watchman77]

Not to say this would not be what Walmart has in mind......but the bit I saw was saying that Walmart would give jobs to those evacuees that were already Walmart employees.


Edit to add: I did have another WA vote left! It's all yours!

[edit on 7-9-2005 by frayed1]

Excellent postings, val, thanks for sharing all this information, a truly fascinating thing to read, and everyone here appreciates you sharing the details of your ordeal. Best of luck and thanks again for keeping us posted.
---Ryan

All I get from reading the original post is coldness .....

To me at least, these poor people have been through hell and some.
And what you have described about these "camps" gives me the feeling of coldness.

I truely hope that the people responcible for CARING for these poor folk bend over backwards in their efforts to help them.

I could think of nothing worse than losing everything I had, only to end up in some sanctioned holding bay surrounded by people who where "doing their jobs" but didnt really care.

Agree with religions or not ....
It is religious people who are usually first to offer their love, support and whatever else they can.
Hired help only goes so far - and most hired help earn their dollar and go home.
Truely caring people would make such a difference.

You and your family sound like wonderful people - the world would be a much better place if there where more like you & yours.

Just spoke with the church member who delivered the goods yesterday (who happens to be my nephew). He counted at least 10 buses that had arrived and a number of refugees. No refugees have been placed in our cabin yet. The pass he entered on was confiscated and he was informed that there would be "new" passes and he would not be able to get back in unless he had one of them. He phoned the preacher who confirmed he had already received the new "official" passes (apparently the original passes were hurriedly made from something readily available from Falls Creek and the new ones are the government issued ones, we are supposing). He was allowed to go all the way to our cabin and did not have to offload our church's supplies to a central location (which is good news). He did state he felt that security was being ramped up while he was there. There were several "people in BDU's" near the front gate when he entered. I didn't get the impression they in any way interacted with him though

BDU's?

Thanks for the updates Val.
.

BDU's - battle dress uniforms



It's better than seeing people in their BVD's...I think.

September 6, 2005 – After anticipating the arrival of 3,000 survivors from Hurricane Katrina for more than two days, volunteers and government agencies were given the word late Tuesday that the status of operations at Falls Creek was put on standby.

Major Mike Grime, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, announced to nearly 400 volunteers and state personnel that the decision had been made by the Governor and other state officials to scale back operations at Falls Creek. “The good news is that it appears those who needed our help have been taken care of for now,” Grimes explained. “We will scale back to a skeleton crew for now, but none of our facilities will be compromised. There will be troopers present 24 hours a day at Falls Creek as we evaluate the need on a 12, 24, 36 and 48 hour basis. Falls Creek has been and will continue to be ready within a 10 to 12 hour window in the event that the conference facility is still needed.” While disappointment was evident on the faces of many, appreciation for the Falls Creek operation was recognized with a round of applause.

Following Major Grimes comments Anthony L. Jordan, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma assured the crowd that their hard work had not been in vain. “We are and continue to be prepared in the event that we are needed. It is very possible that you may be needed within the next 48 hours. We will notify you immediately should we need your assistance in welcoming our Oklahoma guests to our great state,” said Jordan. “Oklahoma has had an opportunity to look inside the hearts of Oklahoma Baptists. We are honored to have this opportunity to serve. Our hearts are in the right place we have served our state and the survivors by being ready. We will be here if needed.”

More than 1,200 volunteers registered for the operation at Falls Creek. Many of the volunteers will remain on standby status in the event that they are needed within the next 48 hours.

&sc=16∋=521&fr=home]link

So are refugees there or not?

They rent the facility for 5 months.. They hire 1200 volunteers + staff.. and then call the whole thing off after the entire camp is mobilized and setup?


[edit on 9/7/2005 by QuietSoul]

Originally posted by Valhall
It's better than seeing people in their BVD's...I think.

Thanks for the answer. I'm not up on the military lingo. Though BVD's would be friendlier.

So if I understand correctly it is possible for this camp to be under the watchful eye of the church groups with regular visits?
.

I am new here. I just found this website today. Very interesting.

I have seen some of you post the theory that this camp may be a quarantine type of thing, but if it were for health reasons, why would anyone be allowed to leave at all? Even if they cannot come back?

I voted for Bush, and since the recent events as well as other issues over the past few months, I sure would like to take that one back. I feel like I've been hit in the gut with a 2 by 4. These recent events with Katrina really disturb me. I have a bad feeling about all of this.

I will be keeping this thread bookmarked for updates. Thanks for posting this and thanks for having this website.

QuietSoul,

Either your link is working or the article has been removed.

here's the correct link

&sc=-1&ni=521&fr=news]Stand by



[edit on 9-7-2005 by Valhall]

If anything useful has come from all this, it's knowing that in a catastrophic event we are completely on our own. The federal government is run by a bunch of complete morons, more worried about political squabbling and their own wallets than anything else. I agree with a few others on this thread that this is not a "detention camp" so to speak, but a very cold, militaristic, and hastily thrown together attempt for the feds to save face, just like all the other FEMA run shelters. The feds in charge are incapable of even the most basic forms of human compassion and run everything in a rigid military fashion.

They are really feeling the heat, and I'm glad that so many are now realizing just how much this administration could give a rats a** about us. It's just horrible what it cost for this to be seen. They even had the nerve to try and blame the local officials for not responding quickly enough, when they were dealt the same blow by the hurricane and flooding and were in no shape to deal with something of such magnitude. They said it's up to the local and state officials to "ask" for help from the feds, but the feds have no problem intervening in state affairs without being asked if it is of concern to them. Then, to top it all off, Bush went on television after the flooding and said "nobody anticipated that the levees would break", he must not have been watching TV at all in the days leading up to the hurricanes landfall, when just about every report said the levees would most likely break and NO would be submerged in up to 30 feet of water.

Can he really be that stupid? Or does he just think we are?

I have been waiting for this to happen. It doesn't surprise me at all. I am surprised they aren't using the abandoned army bases that have been said to be prepared to be converted into concentration camps.

I'm waiting for them to microchip these people and everything will fall into place.

Originally posted by drunkandrowdy
I have been waiting for this to happen. It doesn't surprise me at all. I am surprised they aren't using the abandoned army bases that have been said to be prepared to be converted into concentration camps.

I'm waiting for them to microchip these people and everything will fall into place.

Well, if nothing else, this thread is proof that those so-called "abandoned army bases that have been said to be prepared to be converted into concentration camps" are just a figment of someones over dopamined imagination.

FEMA is refusing to reveal to aid groups the locations of thousands of citizens forced out of their homes by "Hurrican Charley", citing "privacy restrictions".



Where have these people gone??

[edit on 2005-9-7 by wecomeinpeace]

This is all so messed up...
First off, thanks Val, for saving me a trip... now I can see my pickup bed full of beer, wouldn't have been appreciated... (the troops would have loved me though)

As of last word from my personal FEMA contractor (girlfriend)... they are still under the impression that they are on stand down... all the way from the top... they were getting too much critism of people being moved/treated like cattle, (better than being caged like veal)...

Who knows... Maybe this thread did get around to the right (wrong) people.

on a very sad note... one of my girlfriends co-workers (bosses sister) is a attendee at falls creek (and "Christian baptist"), and just couldn't beleive "they were letting all THOSE people use her sacred church camp... beyond disgusting, they are gonna ruin it with all their trash, and filth". yep, even in the babtists... there are bigoted morons...
By the way... it was all my girlfriend could do, to hold her tongue (and save her job)...
I wish all christians could be like you Val...

from the Big Guy: I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."

[edit on 7-9-2005 by LazarusTheLong]

Originally posted by Jessicamsa
I voted

best joke i've heard all week.

[edit on 7-9-2005 by nuckfuts]

I just got back from my Alma Mater San Jose State University where 50 2 bedroom dorm units have been made ready For 100 people they expect from the disaster. I know the chair of the Nursing department there adn I lecture there from time to time so I got some inside scoup. The city of San Jose is paying for this not FEMA nor were the dorm "donated" as its a state school.

However, she had just got back from a briefing given to the department heads about the pending move. No restrictions on movement and they can come and go, explore the city, see the sights as thier means allow. Food will be provided by the SJSU cafeteria that prepares the dorm food. (ugg lucky them :barf. A shuttle service is being set up to get them to the nearest hosptial if care is needed (Santa Clara Valley Medical Center) Critical care pediatrics will come to us at Packard Childrens.

This really contrasts dramaticaly with the conditions you have chronicled in this post. LA, SF and San Diego are also expecting people as well and I have not as of yet heard of thier plans.

The questions that have come up:

1) Could this camp in OK simply be the interpretation of some FEMA mid level drone that has gone off the reservation?
2) If they are forcibly relocating these people why the dramaticaly different setups in terms of camps.

Btw, I pulled up this thread and she was a little disturbed by it.

[edit on 9/7/05 by FredT]

Don't know what the difference is, Fred. But it appears that this camp is being "pulled" from the list.

I think that might be a good idea at this point.