Arkansas offers a welcome refuge

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Escaping the confusion of Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast refugees found a surprise in nearby Arkansas -- the state had beds, meals and an emergency plan waiting, and it absorbed a 2.5 percent increase in its population.

"They treat us absolutely fantastic," says Leon Johnson of New Orleans, temporarily at a camp in Little Rock. "They've got a group of people, and they opened their arms out and make us as welcome as possible. They're taking care of our needs."

Arkansas has taken in more than 60,000 refugees, both black and white, after Katrina arrived -- only Texas took in more. Gov. Mike Huckabee is out preaching the golden rule and reminding Arkansans of the help they receive after their frequent tornadoes and infrequent ice storms. New Orleans and the Mississippi coast, within an easy day's drive, are popular vacation destinations for Arkansans.

"I ask people, 'Have you been to New Orleans?'" Mr. Huckabee says. "These are people who drove your carriage down Canal Street. They carried your bags to your hotel room and picked up the dishes when you finished eating. By golly, we're going to be there to take care of them now."

During previous storms, Gulf Coast residents have packed hotels and motels in southern Arkansas for days at a time, but it was clear early on that this storm was extraordinary.

Within a day of the storm making landfall, Mr. Huckabee had a plan called Operation: KARE (Katrina Assistance Relief Effort), along with a Web site to promote it.

"The migration of evacuees is not unlike the migration of ducks," the Republican governor says. "People go as far as they have to go, but they try not to go too far from home. So naturally Arkansas became a safe haven."

Mr. Huckabee estimated that 50,000 refugees came on their own, seeking motels or relatives. But the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans brought 9,000 more to a processing center at Fort Chaffee, a decommissioned Army base in the city of Fort Smith.

Several thousand refugees have applied for public assistance, many of them for the first time in their lives. Food stamp applications usually require seven to 10 days for approval; the state has cut that in half.

One woman brought 37 members of her family to Arkansas and says, choking back a tear, "this is the first time I've ever even though of applying for welfare."