Hurricane Rita evacuees in Tulsa

Sunday, September 25th 2005, 5:17 pm

By: News On 6

Hundreds of Hurricane Rita evacuees are making Tulsa their temporary home. The Red Cross opened a makeshift shelter in east Tulsa on Friday. Since then, nearly 200 people have come through their doors.

The evacuees at Eastwood Baptist Church seemed to be in pretty good spirits Sunday, but there was a persistent sense of uncertainty. Many asked when they can return home. And according to the Texas governor the answer is, not yet.

Red Cross Volunteers say about 200 folks have come through their doors this weekend. Some just wanted a hot meal, others needed a place to stay. But almost all of them have two things in common, concern for their homes and uncertainty about when to return.

Many folks say Rita was no Katrina. But that doesn't mean everyone escaped her wrath.

Angie Moreland Matthews: "There's two sets of apartment buildings that had burnt down and I'm pretty sure that my area has water I'm just not sure how much damage yet."

Just getting home is going to be a challenge for many evacuees. Some of these families were stuck in traffic for 30 to 40 hours on their way to Tulsa and many are afraid of running into the same agonizing gridlock on the way back home.