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About 200 buses were fueled, inspected, and numbered at the Alabama State Fair Grounds Thursday.
Alabama EMA Director Brock Long said that Friday morning they would transport 8,200 evacuees from Alabama shelters back to their home state Louisiana.
Seventy seven of the buses will begin a staggered departure for Jefferson County shelters at 9 a.m to minimize commuter traffic disruptions, according to the Jefferson County EMA.
Seventy-seven of the buses are needed to transport more than 3,000 New Orleans natives who were bused to Birmingham area shelters over the weekend, according to Alabama EMA Director Brock Long.
Many people in local shelters said they appreciated the work of Red Cross staff and volunteers, but felt that they should have been sent home return sooner. Widespread power outages caused Crescent City leaders to delay the return of evacuee buses.Meanwhile, many New Orleans residents with personal vehicles had already returned.
Hours before the announcement that they would be leaving the next morning one woman staying at a Red Cross Shelter in Fair Park Arena put it plainly. "Some people can go home! I want to go home. I don't care what it looks like I want to go home. That's the bottom line," said Terry Warner.
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