Football fans contribute to hotel crunch
By Jeff Burlew
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/12550280.htmHurricane Katrina evacuees John and Dorothy Mysing of Diamondhead, Miss., are leaving their Tallahassee hotel room Sunday morning to make room for football fans.
The Mysings, who have been staying at the the Sleep Inn on Capital Circle Northwest, said they were told by hotel staff that they would have to leave the room because it had already been booked by fans attending Monday's Florida State/Miami game. They have been staying at the hotel with Dorothy Mysing's 87-year-old mother and three dogs.
"I was pretty shaken up," she said, "until we did get confirmed reservations someplace else."
The family plans to drive to a hotel in Montgomery, Ala.
"So many people have said it just shows you where people's priorities lie," she said.
The Tallahassee Democrat learned about the family after being contacted by the office of Mississippi Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck. The Mysings had contacted Tuck's office trying to get information about shelters.
The FSU football game prompted fears that evacuees would be forced to leave their hotel rooms to make room for fans. But FSU officials were appealing to fans coming to Tallahassee to stay with friends rather than in hotels.
Leon County Commissioner Cliff Thaell released a statement Friday saying that hotel space was available and that stories about people not having a place to stay were "Internet rumors."
Wendy Hill, a Sleep Inn employee, said the hotel was "trying to accommodate everyone's needs, the evacuees and the game people. We are trying to do everything that's within our power."
Anthony McGuffey and nine family members spent two nights at the Collegiate Village Inn on West Tennessee Street before they were told the nightly rate was more than doubling because of the game.
The family, who squeezed into one sedan to evacuate Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Katrina, was quickly running out of money anyway - they left the Crescent City with only $105 among them. But McGuffey said he was angry that the $45 rate at the hotel was increasing to $105 because of the game.
"A football game ain't no excuse," said McGuffey, who also was grappling with the possibility that other family members didn't survive the hurricane.
Since Wednesday, they've been staying at the American Red Cross shelter at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thomasville Road. McGuffey's car ran out of gas in the parking lot, which he said left him unable to find temporary work or visit a park with his four children, who range in age from 3 to 9.
"Now we're down to 22 cents," he said. "We found two pennies on the ground."
Finding rooms
Barry Adams, president of the FSU Alumni Association, said the organization was asking members in the Tallahassee area to call friends and alums from out of town to get the word out. And President T.K. Wetherell said some fans were opting not to come to the game, in part because of $3-plus gas prices.
About 120 people were staying at the Mormon Church shelter, which has a capacity of 225. The Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross had six other shelters on standby Friday.
The Leon County Tourist Development Council established a hotel hot line with a recording listing hotels and motels with available rooms. The recording listed about a dozen Tallahassee hotels with vacancies and several others in nearby communities. The city and local universities were participating in the service.
Also, houses of worship of various faiths were teaming up to offer a "Family to Family" service designed to match evacuees with Tallahasseeans who had a guest room or apartment to spare. The Rev. Brant Copeland of First Presbyterian Church said some 200 people had called to offer rooms. Only about a half-dozen families were matched through the service; Copeland said he thought more would be as word got out about it.
We have our share of refugees here, and many being turned out for the Miami/Florida State game this weekend.