Editor’s note: This story has been revised from an earlier version to reflect that the American Red Cross manages the shelter.
More than three weeks after flood victims began seeking shelter in the River Center, 351 men, women and children remain in the downtown exhibition hall and arena.
The daily census is dropping relatively quickly, however, and officials with the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services say they hope to move the remaining shelter residents to a different location next week.
“Sept. 14 is the target date,” says DCFS spokeswoman Catherine Heitman. “But they’re looking at the numbers every day.”
The shelter is managed by the American Red Cross for the state’s DCFS. The agencies work together with FEMA and other organizations to provide services to those in the shelter and will determine jointly when the evacuees can be relocated.
DCFS Deputy Secretary Terri Ricks has previously said it doesn’t make sense to keep the River Center open as a shelter beyond a certain point and that a more suitable location will be identified once the census is low enough. Heitman could not say this afternoon where that location might be.
Over the past 24 hours, the number of flood victims in the River Center has fallen from 400. That’s less than half of what it was on Aug. 30, when more than 800 people were staying there.
River Center General Manager Michael Day says he has not been told the facility will be cleared out by Sept. 14. But he says all events planned for October are still on schedule and nothing has been canceled for next month.
The first of those big events is the Junior League of Baton Rouge’s Hollydays, which will consume most of the exhibition hall from Oct. 5-8. Elton John is scheduled to perform in the arena also on Oct. 5.
—Stephanie Riegel
