San Diego Stadium Houses Fire Evacuees

[Dover]

Source: AP

Pass the massage oil!


(10-23) 06:26 PDT SAN DIEGO (AP) --


Like Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years earlier in New Orleans, thousands of people rousted by natural disaster fled to the NFL stadium here, waiting out the calamity and worrying about their homes.

The similarities ended there, as an almost festive atmosphere reigned at Qualcomm Stadium.

Bands belted out rock 'n' roll, lavish buffets served gourmet entrees, and massage therapists helped relieve the stress for those forced to flee their homes because of wildfires.

"The people are happy. They have everything here," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared Monday night after his second Qualcomm tour.

Although anxieties ran high, the misery index seemed low as the celebrity governor waded through the mob. Scarcely a complaint was registered with him.

"Oooh, I got a picture!" shrieked Olivia Beard of Ocean Beach, one of hundreds who pressed toward Schwarzenegger with camera phones snapping.

The fires destroyed some 500 homes and 100 businesses in San Diego County, the greatest swath of destruction in a series of Southern California blazes that began Sunday...cont'd



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/10/23/national/a024152D24.DTL

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Duplicate x10 already.