At Postal Annex, Hope Is Delivered

As soon as she finished breakfast Tuesday, Elizabeth Blackman hurried over to what had become the most popular place in the Astrodome shelter complex: the former sports ticket office turned post office annex for evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.

Blackman, 45, was hoping that her check from the Federal Emergency Management Agency might arrive. Or maybe a payment she is owed from Louisiana.

But mostly, she was hoping to get a letter about her niece Lilly.

“We were on the bridge together in New Orleans, but we got separated, and now I don’t know where she is,” Blackman said as she inched toward the front of one of the eight lines. “I keep hoping somebody will write me a letter and tell me.”

This may be the age of cellphones and the Internet, but when it comes to bringing news from home and money, nothing here beats the U.S. Postal Service. The phrase “the check is in the mail” has taken on life-and-death consequences for evacuees.

So it’s not surprising that the annex has become the central gathering spot for evacuees at the Astrodome and the adjacent Reliant Center.

Waiting in line has become part of the evacuees’ existence. There are an estimated 3,700 of them still at the dome and the center -- down from a high of 27,100.

The Texas sun is merciless and the humidity is uncharitable. But the hope of getting a letter or a check prompts evacuees to form lines even before the windows open at 8 a.m.

FEMA checks began arriving over the weekend. Some child-support checks have arrived. And Thursday is expected to be a banner day: Unemployment checks from Louisiana are expected.

Houston officials have said they would like the shelters closed by Sunday. Although they have not said they would forcibly remove anyone, talk of the planned shutdown has raised concern among evacuees that their stay is coming to an end.

“It’s tough to wait for hours in line and then get nothing,” said Morris Lewis, 47. “It bogs you down when you could be doing other things like looking for housing.”

Even with eight windows -- where tickets to Astro and Oiler games were once sold -- the distribution of mail is not speedy. Postal Service police, Houston police and members of the Texas National Guard mingle with the crowd to keep disappointment and impatience from bubbling over.

Identification is required to get mail. Most evacuees have a Louisiana driver’s license. For those who do not, Louisiana and Texas authorities are working on a verification process, but not everybody has gotten the needed paper.

Although the annex’s posted closing time is 4 p.m. on weekdays, it stayed open until 7 one night last week. On Sunday, evacuees started lining up at 8 a.m. even though the windows were not supposed to open until 1 p.m.

To accommodate mail for evacuees, the Astrodome has its own ZIP Code. So does the downtown convention shelter, which also has an annex where evacuees can receive mail.

Mark Morello, a manager for the postal district that includes the Astrodome, said the annex was a new concept.

“We have experience, after natural disaster, of getting back into neighborhoods for delivery,” he said while surveying the growing line. “But this time, the neighborhood came to us.”

And how important is the postal annex? “We are the hub of Reliant City,” said Morello, using the phrase officials have adopted to describe the shelter complex.

The Astrodome annex also became a way for people to donate gifts to evacuees. Dozens of packages arrived addressed to “Any Katrina Evacuee at the Astrodome.” As people walked away from the windows, it wasn’t difficult to tell those who received a letter or check from those who didn’t.

“This is everything I hoped for; it goes straight into the bank,” Aaron Williams, 26, said of the FEMA check for $2,000. “I’m not spending a penny until I get my housing. That’s next.”

Lawanda Bagneris, 34, also got a FEMA check. “I’m going to get my situation situated,” she said.

Sarah Terrell, 41, got her child-support check from Louisiana. “Now I can buy some things my baby and I need,” she said.

But Blackman got no word about her niece. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” she said. “It’s all I can do.”