Law and Justice
(2009-10-12)
Listen Now:
null
Shelter for flood victims?
Massive flooding is a possibility because the weakened Howard Hansen dam on the Green River can't hold back as much water as it used to. One question is where do you put everybody? King County has never had to find shelter for more than 70 people at a time.
Jackie Brown Miller, with the County Executive's office, has been working on a solution. She told the King County Council she has been reaching out to "very large venues" asking them to consider a regional sheltering partnership.
The Tacoma Dome, the Port of Seattle's cruise ship terminal, the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Qwest Expo Center and the Washington State Convention Center are all in negotiations with the county to work out the logistics behind serving as a mega shelters.
Officials are also looking at using empty retail spaces as mega shelters. Looming over all of this is how to avoid the terrible scenes after Hurricane Katrina when desperate victims went days without food or water in the makeshift shelter in the New Orleans Superdome. © Copyright 2012, KPLU
