Comfy shelter in Oceanside

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Oceanside:

The Qualcomm Stadium evacuation site has been receiving rave reviews all week, but the facilities at El Camino High School in Oceanside don’t seem to be too shabby either.

One elderly woman from Fallbrook apparently was having such a fine time at the Oceanside shelter that she sent her son back to Redondo Beach after he arrived to pick her up.

‘She said she was being treated so well, she didn’t want to leave,’ said Margery Pierce, a shelter organizer.

Rhonda Hall of South Carolina, who was evacuated from her brother’s house in Fallbrook, said she thought the accommodations were as luxurious as those on ‘a cruise.’

‘The people running this place are the most amazing I’ve ever seen,’ she said. ‘I’ve lived through Hurricane Hugo and this is a much better situation. It seems like all we do here is eat and get entertained.’

Evacuation center officials said they are hoping to shut down the Oceanside site by tomorrow night. Last night, the facility held about 125 refugees from Fallbrook, Valley Center, Escondido and Solana Beach.

‘Most of these people are from Fallbrook and we’d like to get them closer to their home,’ said Joe Urban, a preparedness coordinator for the city of Oceanside. ‘The burden for sheltering these displaced people is going to shift back to schools and churches in the fire areas.’

--Dave McKibben