Jill Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram via AP Zahira Sims screams for joy (above) as she runs to her father, George Sims (below), who she had been searching for since Hurricane Katrina hit. George Sims ended up at Wilkerson-Greines Athletic Center in Fort Worth after being bused there from the Louisiana Superdome, where his daughter found him Sunday. Click photo for larger image

	Click photo for larger image.

By Todd Lewan
The Associated Press

HOUSTON -- With a shattered New Orleans all but emptied out, an unprecedented refugee crisis unfolded across the country yesterday, as governors and emergency officials rushed to feed, clothe and shelter more than a half-million people dispossessed by Hurricane Katrina.

In Texas, where nearly a quarter-million refugees have filled the state's relief centers, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials to airlift some evacuees to other states willing to take them. Among the states that have offered help are West Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Michigan, Iowa, New York and Pennsylvania.

"There are shelters set up in other states that are sitting empty while thousands arrive in Texas by the day, if not the hour," Perry said. "To meet this enormous need, we need help from other states."

		AIRLIFT ORDERED AUSTIN, Texas -- With nearly a quarter-million Katrina refugees already in Texas and more still pouring in, Gov. Rick Perry ordered emergency officials Sunday to airlift some of them to other states that have offered help. Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said relief centers around the state are running out of room. "There are shelters set up in other states that are sitting empty while thousands arrive in Texas by the day, if not the hour," Perry said. "We are doing everything we can to address the needs of evacuees as they arrive, but in order to meet this enormous need, we need help from other states." Aid centers will be set up at airports in Houston and Dallas where incoming refugees can be given food, water and medical care before they are flown out. The governor's office said some of those flights could begin Sunday. The Texas National Guard will coordinate the air operation. Perry said American, Continental and Southwest Airlines, all of which are based in Texas, have agreed to help. Since Thursday, Perry's office has been in contact with several states, including Utah, Oklahoma, Michigan, Iowa, New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, about providing shelter for Louisiana evacuees. West Virginia is sending three C-130 planes to Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio to help move about 200 refugees. The governor's office said arrangements also were being made to bring cruise ships to Galveston to house Louisianans left homeless by the storm. Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said she she did not know how many refugees might ultimately end up in other states. Texas has been taking in refugees from New Orleans since Wednesday. The storm has displaced some 1.5 million people. Texas officials estimate 100,000 Louisiana residents are staying in hotels and motels across the state and an additional 123,000 are being temporarily housed in 97 shelters throughout the state from the Houston Astrodome to El Paso.

Around the country, social service agencies, businesses, volunteer groups, military bases and other refugee shelters raced to help Katrina's multitudes find jobs, obtain their Social Security checks, receive their medicines, get their mail, locate missing relatives and pets, and enroll their youngsters in school.

"We want to get the children back in school as quickly as possible, whether they are staying with relatives, or friends or in a shelter," said Caron Blanton, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Education. Mississippi, like Alabama, Florida, Texas and other states, has pledged to open its schools to displaced children and waive normal entry requirements such as immunization records and proof of residency.

In Fort Chaffee, Ark., relief workers turned the post where Elvis Presley entered the Army in 1958 into a processing center for refugees. There, the homeless were registered by the Social Security Administration, checked by doctors and given post office boxes.

Marion Landry, 84, held onto the walker of her sister, Fay Roberts, 81, as the bedraggled pair went through the registration process. They appreciated the need for paperwork -- but really wanted a shower.

"I've worn the same set of clothes for three days," Roberts said Saturday after arriving from New Orleans. "My hair is sweaty. I don't look like this. Normally I'm very nice."

A military base near Battle Creek, Mich., was transforming itself into a welcome station.

Up to 500 evacuees were headed for the Fort Custer Training Center, where volunteer cooks were readying meals at a mess hall. Tables were stacked with towels, toiletries, T-shirts and other clothing and essentials. Medical personnel stood by to help, and clergy and attorneys were on call.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the refugees are welcome to stay permanently, if they wish. "Michigan is going to welcome these victims, these evacuees, with open arms and show them some Northern hospitality," she said.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, at the government's request, announced a hot line and Web site for reuniting family members separated by the storm. By noon today, people will be able to get help at 1-888-544-5475 or at www.missingkids.com.

In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency and released about $1 million to help victims of Katrina as the first of up to 6,000 evacuees arrived yesterday. He also relaxed certain state transportation rules to speed up the building of temporary housing for the refugees.

Refugees also began arriving in Arizona, which has agreed to take up to 2,500. They were greeted on the runway by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Several people had to be helped off the plane and down the stairway to the tarmac, where pink, yellow, teal and black flip-flops had been set out for them.

Then, carrying garbage bags, backpacks and brown shopping bags with their only belongings, the evacuees were led into the airport for physicals before boarding buses to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

"We'll take care of them," Gordon said. "We'll make sure they know that the city cares."

In Denver, Qwest Communications set up a bank of at least 50 phones at a processing center so refugees could call their loved ones. Colorado state Rep. Debbie Stafford said she was trying to arrange long-term shelter for the storm's victims, and also reunite people with their cats and dogs.

State and local officials in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and other states with a refugee influx began setting up programs to link refugees with employers. Business owners are trying to help, too.

In Richland, Miss., a fast-food restaurant hung fliers offering jobs at a shelter. A steel company sent employees to a shelter at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson to recruit new workers. And Craigslist, the Internet-based classified advertising service, was filled with job offers for victims willing to relocate.

Pene Long, who owns a spa in Richland, said she had given a stylist's job to a woman whose home in Biloxi was devastated. Long said she was going to hire nine more displaced people.

	Pat Sullivan, Associated Press Reginald Cressy, left, and Corionne Thompson, 5, enjoy a pillow fight yesterday in the refugee shelter set up in Reliant Center next to Houston's Astrodome. Click photo for larger image.

"I was getting ready to put a big ad in the paper, and I said, `Why would I do that?' There are tons of people out here looking for work," she said.

At the Houston Astrodome, evacuees were issued jeans, T-shirts, underwear, socks, hats, sneakers, sandals and other clothes, along with toiletries, aspirin, towels and other items. They were allowed to make free long-distance phone calls, courtesy of SBC Communications.

Torres Smith, 42, a machine operator at a New Orleans seafood plant before Katrina hit, was evacuated along with his wife and four children and is now sleeping on a cot in what used to be centerfield in the Astrodome.

"As far as I can tell, this is going to be our new home for a long time," he said. "I'll do anything -- cut grass, wash windows, wax floors. I can't just sit around here, looking at people lying in their cots. I feel like I have to be a part of something positive."

Simon Henderson, 47, an electrician, carpenter and plumber who stepped off a refugee bus from New Orleans a week ago, is now helping out other refugees at his new residence, the Reliant Center across the street from the Houston Astrodome.

On Saturday, he helped relief workers build 16 new shower stalls. Yesterday, he was helping a team of paramedics.

"They're feeding me. They're housing me," he said, while rushing bags of batteries for blood pressure gauges and hearing aids into the center. "This is the least I can do."

Refugee response by state

Snapshots of states taking in refugees from Hurricane Katrina:

WEST VIRGINIA: The first of an expected 500 refugees began arriving late Saturday.

	Mark Lambie, El Paso Times via AP Violet Riles, 2, sits in the arms of her mother, Monique, shortly after they arrived from New Orleans yesterday at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas. Click photo for larger image.

TEXAS: More than 230,000 refugees are already in Texas. Gov. Rick Perry on Sunday ordered emergency officials to initiate an airlift to take some of them to other states that have offered help.

LOUISIANA: The Red Cross says more than 50,000 refugees were in its shelters. Tens of thousands of hurricane survivors were bused to Texas.

ARKANSAS: Gov. Mike Huckabee says Arkansas likely had 50,000 evacuees in the state as of Friday and another 20,000 could be expected.

TENNESSEE: Gov. Phil Bredesen says nearly 13,000 refugees were being sheltered and that number could double. More than 10,000 people have gone to Memphis, about 350 miles north of New Orleans.

MISSISSIPPI: More than 17,000 were in American Red Cross shelters, while untold others were in hotels, churches and private homes.

ALABAMA: Gov. Bob Riley is seeking to offer housing for 10,000 refugees.

MICHIGAN: The state has offered to house up to 10,000 refugees, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm says.

NEW MEXICO: Up to 6,000 hurricane victims may find shelter in New Mexico. Gov. Bill Richardson said the first 1,000 evacuees will be housed at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

SOUTH CAROLINA: U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn proposed housing up to 5,000 refugees in unused military barracks, an empty mall and other large buildings in Columbia.

MINNESOTA: Gov. Tim Pawlenty says Minnesota is preparing to host as many as 5,000 evacuees for a year or longer.

OKLAHOMA: Buses carrying nearly 2,000 evacuees arrived in Oklahoma on Saturday. As many as 3,000 others are expected to follow.

NORTH CAROLINA: Authorities say they are ready to house up to 1,500 evacuees at shelters.

FLORIDA: More than 1,100 people were in seven shelters, along with 13,500 refugees in hotels.

ARIZONA: One thousand or more refugees were expected to arrive sometime Sunday.

COLORADO: Up to 1,000 refugees will be housed at dorms at the former Lowry Air Force base.

OREGON: State officials are working to accommodate up to 1,000 people.

GEORGIA: State officials have opened 12 shelters housing more than 900 evacuees, Gov. Sonny Perdue says.

MISSOURI: The American Red Cross has housed more than 500 people, says Susie Stonner, a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Management agency.

ILLINOIS: Authorities were aware of 400 to 500 refugees in the state.

UTAH: About 450 refugees had arrived in Salt Lake City by Sunday.

CALIFORNIA: About 80 evacuees were expected to arrive Sunday in San Diego. Some 300 families were expected in San Francisco and another 100 in San Jose, emergency officials said.