The cleanup of Calhoun Community College’s gym will take at least a week after 300 Hurricane Gustav evacuees left early Friday morning for Louisiana, according to Jack Burrow, dean of business and finance.
Burrow said he is getting quotations from several companies to disinfect the gym, which at different times from Monday through Thursday housed about 350 people, some with medical problems.
By early afternoon Friday, all of the 28 community college hurricane shelters were to have closed. Beginning at 5 a.m. Friday, the remaining hurricane shelters operated by the Alabama Community College System started loading their evacuees on buses as part of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency’s transportation plan.
“Our college presidents and their staffs performed a terrific job in providing shelter and assistance to the people of Louisiana in their time of need,” said Chancellor Bradley Byrne. “I am very proud of what they did and I appreciate the help we received from the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama National Guard, local law enforcement agencies, and faith-based and civic organizations in our communities.”
At the peak of the evacuation, community college shelters housed approximately 6,500 evacuees. About 5,000 of those evacuees were bused to the shelters from southern Louisiana as part of an agreement between the states of Alabama and Louisiana.
“We’ve got to have the whole place disinfected,” said Burrow of Calhoun’s gym. “We had several medical problems, head lice, skin rashes, open wounds and boils. We can’t take the risk of opening back up to students. We are in the process of getting quotes and the gym will be blocked off all next week.”
Burrow said the janitorial service with which the college has a contract had removed literally “tons of trash” left behind.
“They worked around the clock while the evacuees were here,” he said.
Burrow said the college would bill FEMA for reimbursement of those services.
“I would have to say we’ve learned a lot out of this whole process,” said Burrow. “Those people were evacuated from their homes. It was a good feeling helping those folks, but it really put a strain on our staff.
“The Red Cross did a great job. Some of our people are just worn out. Our maintenance and security crews worked around the clock.”
Linda Smith of the Morgan County Red Cross, which was in charge of the Calhoun shelter, said Friday that much of the staff had worked through the night Thursday getting the evacuees ready to leave early Friday morning.
Smith said that through a pre-arrangement with Caddo Café, the restaurant provided three meals a day Monday through Thursday, plus Friday morning breakfast.
“We had lots of restaurants that helped out,” said Smith. “I hesitate to begin naming them because I would be afraid of leaving someone out.”
She said the Southern Baptist Association sent in a feeding unit and several other churches also provided meals.
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