Fort Chaffee is only being used to house Louisiana evacuees from Gustav coming to Arkansas in a controlled situation via planes or bus and is not for self-evacuees. Arkansas Emergency Operations Center Team Chief Richard Griffin made that announcement Saturday morning.
Per an agreement with the State of Louisiana, Arkansas can house 4,000 controlled evacuees at Chaffee.
Griffin said that counties in Arkansas have been asked to help self-evacuees if possible but he added that according to reports he had received, hotel spaces are very limited from Little Rock southward.
The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) is the state’s homeland security and preparedness agency. The agency works to identify and lessen the effects of emergencies, disasters and threats to Arkansas by developing effective prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery actions for all disasters and emergencies. For additional information, contact ADEM at (501) 683-6700 or visit the website at www.adem.arkansas.gov
