Number of evacuees at Camp Gruber continues to dwindle

Wednesday, September 28th 2005, 5:20 pm

By: News On 6

BRAGGS, Okla. (AP) -- The number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees housed at the Camp Gruber training facility continues to dwindle, dropping to 123 people on Wednesday, officials said.

A little more than three weeks ago, more than 1,500 evacuees were housed at the remote Oklahoma Army National Guard base in northeastern Oklahoma.

As many as 30 people are leaving the camp every day, said Lt. Col. Ronald Ragland, commander at the base.

"We see a decline in (population) every day," Ragland said. "We started off the week with a little more than 200."

Ragland said 186 National Guard troops remained deployed at the base, along with more than 100 representatives from various local, state and federal agencies. Ragland said he expects those numbers to drop as the number of evacuees continues to shrink.

"Each agency in here, as things draw down, they start to draw their numbers down," Ragland said.

Despite the declining number of evacuees, there is no timeline for shutting down the facility, said Paul Sund, a spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry.

"Governor Henry's position is that as long as there is a need, we're going to provide service and care to these people," Sund said.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency will meet some of the remaining evacuees to help coordinate options for temporary or permanent housing in Oklahoma, Ragland said.

Ragland said many of those remaining at the camp are trying to coordinate living arrangements with relatives scattered at shelters throughout the country.

"You've got some people here that have family here and in other states and they're all trying to relocate to one location," he said. "They're just trying to get the families back together as close as they can."

Sund said all of the state costs associated with operating Camp Gruber will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.