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Exhausted evacuees arrive by Amtrak While his new friend Felicia Hendricks sat in a chair by the railroad tracks and breathed through an inhaler, Philip Harvey bit into sandwich he’d just been given by a Salvation Army. Hendricks and Harvey had just arrived in Lafayette, Louisiana by train from New Orleans with about 100 other people, all evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who were being transferred by bus to points west, possibly Dallas or San Antonio, said an Amtrak official. Harvey and Hendricks met each other in the Superdome, where thousands of refugees languished before being brought out of the city. “We’ve been taking care of each other,” he said. “She has bronchitis.” The train later headed back to New Orleans to pick up more of the 600 people at the New Orleans Amtrak station on Poydras Street, said Maj. Dan Hudson of the Louisiana State Police. The evacuees were met by city police, firemen and medics from Acadian Ambulance and two California companies, Care Ambulance from Orange County and WestMed from Los Angeles, who drove several ambulances across the country in only 29 hours. Although some of the evacuees had bandages on their heads, arms and legs, none required transport, although several hospitals had been alerted, said Acadian Ambulance spokesman Orlando Roland. “This is the first time in American history that ambulance companies have crossed this country to help another company,” said Bill Weston of Care Ambulance. “And there were a few times we went over 55.” The trip from New Orleans went smoothly, said Amtrak engineer Gilbert Isaacs, and said his heart went out to the gentle people who had gone through so much. “The rumors about people from New Orleans bringing violence is just a very small minority,” he said. “These people are simply suffering. They are the most decent people I’ve ever had on board. They picked up the trash and kept the cars clean.” Salvation Army volunteer Lester Wright, who passed out water, snacks and sandwiches to the evacuees as they walked from the train to the bus, said he was moved by their presence. “These are the most humble, beat down people I’ve every seen,” he said. Weston said as the caravan went across the country, people greeted them everywhere. “All we did was get thumbs up and waves from people the whole way here,” he said. “We stopped in a little town in Texas and said we were a group on our way to Louisiana,” Weston said. “So they went into the stores and took packs of water off the selves and just gave it to us.”
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