Hurricane Katrina Recovery and Relief Assistance by Cultural Division of TECO in Houston

The category-4 Hurricane Katrina has had a devastating effect on Louisiana and its people, including about 80 Taiwanese students studying at five universities/colleges in Louisiana State before Katrina came. In the days following the disaster, Cultural Division of TECO in Houston faced a number of challenges, from locating and relocating all the 80 students to assisting them in enrolling as visiting students at appropriate programs offered by other universities.
The day after Katrina’s landfall, Cultural Division built an efficient network which made contact with 77 students evacuating from New Orleans area available, and helped those students who evacuating to Houston staying in motels with good quality when almost none vacancy in Houston was available. In order to search for three missing students, urgent requests for assistance were promptly sent to Louisiana Governor’s office, State Representative Jim Tucker’s office and State Representative Diana Winston’s Office. At the same time, in order to locate two exchange Taiwan students who were visiting New Orleans City when Katrina came, close watch of movement of evacuees temporarily sheltered at Superdome, Louisiana was acted. Fortunately all five students were finally found safe and transported to Houston or Baton Rouge. Cultural Division also helped in providing transportation and lodging.
The aftermath of the disaster brought Cultural Division to concentrate on finding more resources useful and helpful to students, including coordinating The University of Texas Health Science Centers in Houston to receive evacuating students from Tulane University, coordinating local charity as well as business organization to provide emergency funds to students, coordinating airline companies to provide special fare package to students who decide to temporarily return to Taiwan, and etc.. The recovery and relief assistance will continue as long as the students need it.