Camp Williams is emptied out

CAMP WILLIAMS — For nearly a month, Col. Scot Olson has been the "landlord" of this makeshift town.

Today, with all his tenants gone, he's once again the training site manager for the Utah National Guard base south of Salt Lake City.

"All that's left are the memories," Olson said, perhaps only half-jokingly at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

Once home to 583 survivors of Hurricane Katrina, the training base is empty after the final nine evacuees left Tuesday. Many have reunited with friends and family closer to home, while more than half have chosen to stay in Utah long term. Several remain in Salt Lake motels, awaiting permanent housing here or the green light to return by bus to New Orleans.

"Our mission was very simple," Olson said. "We would provide sanctuary for the evacuees. This was not meant to be a final destination."

Every sector of Utah came together — the military, state government, nonprofit organizations, businesses and residents — to provide a "safe and secure environment" where the evacuees could recover from Katrina and start rebuilding their lives, Olson said.

"It was large group that came together to provide compassionate care for people who had been displaced due to the disaster."

The effort, said community advocate Pamela Atkinson, was the "epitome of teamwork."

Ultimately, 321 of the 583 evacuees found housing in Utah, the majority in Salt Lake County. Thirty-five children are registered for school here, most of those in the Jordan School District, according to the Joint Information Center.

Addresses and phone numbers have been collected from each remaining evacuee, and Atkinson intends to visit individually with each person or family throughout the coming months.

"We certainly don't want any evacuee to feel unwelcome or fall through the cracks," she said. "We're going to be involved with these evacuees for a long time."

Katrina survivors came to Utah with little more than the clothes on their backs, their belongings lost in the Aug. 29 storm and ensuing damage caused by broken levees in New Orleans. Donations have allowed those remaining in Utah to have homes with new furnishings and appliances, Atkinson said. Additionally, she said, a new effort is under way to collect gift cards to local retailers so children can shop for their own clothes.

"We feel that we've given what Utah considers its best," Atkinson said.