As the first slow-moving figures gathered in the parking lot, night slowly faded into a new dawn for more than 100 displaced New Orleanians.
Standing in a lot just off 610 South, the evacuees boarded two chartered buses destined for Lake Charles to vote in what many have called a historic election to pick city and parish leaders who will guide New Orleans through its reconstruction for the next four years.
The bus trip was a far cry from the quick walks or neighborhood drives these die-hard voters once took to get to their neighborhood polling stations in the Crescent City. But when 80 percent of the city flooded, polling stations were destroyed along with the majority of the city's housing. So the new satellite-voting precinct in Lake Charles offered some comfort, though many residents had hoped the state of Louisiana would have allowed them to cast their ballots in Houston.
"I feel more hopeful than I felt in a long time," said Gilda Burbank, who says she woke up Monday at 3 a.m. preparing for the trip. "This makes me feel that maybe I can go home again. Voting is the only time we get to shout. Other times we're just whispering. I hollered today."
About 110 displaced voters from New Orleans made the trip from Houston with help from the community activist group ACORN. Suspicious of an absentee ballot being lost in the mail or uncounted, many said they wanted to make the trip to vote in person. They also wanted to silence naysayers who said they wouldn't show, along with candidates who they believe have taken them for granted.
Melvina Kepp, 74, was among them. She sat on the second row by the window on bus number 120 and recalled how on past election days voting meant a short walk around the corner from her house on Gallier to her Catholic church.
Looking over a list of candidates running for mayor, Kepp, the great-grandmother of 13, said she only knew four in the large field of 23 mayoral hopefuls. Kepp said her vote and the votes of others is what the city needs to get residents back home.
"I want to go home. One candidate said it was going to take a long time. I don't have a long time," Kepp said. "It hurts me every time I think about it. I want to go home right now."
Local election officials in Calcasieu Parish, where Lake Charles is located, said about 110 evacuees temporarily living in Houston cast ballots Monday. Early voting will continue through Thursday and again Saturday. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3785519
Standing in a lot just off 610 South, the evacuees boarded two chartered buses destined for Lake Charles to vote in what many have called a historic election to pick city and parish leaders who will guide New Orleans through its reconstruction for the next four years.
The bus trip was a far cry from the quick walks or neighborhood drives these die-hard voters once took to get to their neighborhood polling stations in the Crescent City. But when 80 percent of the city flooded, polling stations were destroyed along with the majority of the city's housing. So the new satellite-voting precinct in Lake Charles offered some comfort, though many residents had hoped the state of Louisiana would have allowed them to cast their ballots in Houston.
"I feel more hopeful than I felt in a long time," said Gilda Burbank, who says she woke up Monday at 3 a.m. preparing for the trip. "This makes me feel that maybe I can go home again. Voting is the only time we get to shout. Other times we're just whispering. I hollered today."
About 110 displaced voters from New Orleans made the trip from Houston with help from the community activist group ACORN. Suspicious of an absentee ballot being lost in the mail or uncounted, many said they wanted to make the trip to vote in person. They also wanted to silence naysayers who said they wouldn't show, along with candidates who they believe have taken them for granted.
Melvina Kepp, 74, was among them. She sat on the second row by the window on bus number 120 and recalled how on past election days voting meant a short walk around the corner from her house on Gallier to her Catholic church.
Looking over a list of candidates running for mayor, Kepp, the great-grandmother of 13, said she only knew four in the large field of 23 mayoral hopefuls. Kepp said her vote and the votes of others is what the city needs to get residents back home.
"I want to go home. One candidate said it was going to take a long time. I don't have a long time," Kepp said. "It hurts me every time I think about it. I want to go home right now."
Local election officials in Calcasieu Parish, where Lake Charles is located, said about 110 evacuees temporarily living in Houston cast ballots Monday. Early voting will continue through Thursday and again Saturday. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3785519
