Plans for additional evacuees on hold; Guardsmen to receive federal pay

Thursday, September 8th 2005, 5:43 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Governor Brad Henry says the 3,000 Oklahoma National Guard members helping with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina will get full federal pay and benefits.

That information came Wednesday as Henry told reporters that Oklahoma is still on standby to get about 3,000 more survivors from the deadly hurricane at a church camp in south-central Oklahoma.

Henry says Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told him many of the evacuees were had gone through a terrible ordeal and spent days on buses in poor conditions.

He says Chertoff asked the state to stand by and be ready.

There are 2,352 evacuees in Oklahoma confirmed by the American Red Cross. Of the four Red Cross shelters in Oklahoma, the one at Camp Gruber has the majority of survivors, two in the Lawton area and one in the Tulsa area.

Emergency management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten urged those who fled the storm to register for federal disaster assistance through FEMA.