What is the scene like at the Houston Astrodome?
It’s much different than what the Astrodome has looked like over the past several years because it has been vacated for four years now, since Houston built a new stadium. In fact, as recently, as two weeks ago, city officials were discussing what to do with it. Ironically, one of the ideas under consideration was to make it a luxury hotel. It certainly will not be a luxury hotel, but it will a temporary home for as many as 25,000 people from New Orleans who were in the Superdome. Several thousand people are already here. By Labor Day, authorities expect the number to top 24,000 — including several thousand children. However, some problems have come up already. Some people are arriving in private cars and on foot saying that they are also from New Orleans and have been staying in area hotels, but that they have no more money to spend on hotels and they are seeking refuge here.