By Polly Ross Hughes
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2007 San Antonio Express-News
All Rights Reserved

AUSTIN, Texas — Whether it's fear of Big Brother, complacency or old-fashioned procrastination, too few coastal residents who could need help fleeing the next big hurricane are registering with the government.

Consider Houston's sobering numbers.

Last year, with the trauma of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita fresh on their minds, 3,000 Houstonians who weren't capable of evacuating by themselves signed onto a local "special needs" registry for front-door transportation service, if need be.

This year? Only 500.

Despite their best-laid and most intricate disaster plans, state and local officials holding hurricane preparation drills this week agreed Wednesday that finding people needing evacuation help poses their biggest challenge.

"I'm most assured there are not enough folks that have registered. The number is astounding," said Beda Kent, spokeswoman for the Houston Fire Department and Houston-Harris County joint information center.

"When an evacuation is mandatory, and we find out at the last minute there are special needs people who have not registered, it just makes a daunting task," she said. "Everybody's going to do it at the last minute or during the hurricane. It's horrifying."

About 8,000 coastal residents from Brownsville to Beaumont have asked for government evacuation help this year via a statewide 211 hot line, said Jack Colley, chief of the governor's division of emergency management.

"They may not have the money. They may not want to drive. They may be elderly or shut-ins. This allows them a method to contact somebody and get some assistance," he said.

Colley spoke to reporters from the State Operations Center in Austin, as hundreds of state, local and federal officials in the next room underwent drills simulating their plans in the 36 hours leading to touchdown of a massive Category 4 or 5 hurricane.

"What this exercise is focused on primarily is our ability to support local government in the evacuation of those who cannot evacuate themselves for whatever reason," he added. "That is our No. 1 objective for this exercise this year."

While 8,000 is only a fraction of the 3.2 million coastal residents who could be subject to mandatory evacuation, Colley said the number only captures 211 calls.

Local officials are busily gathering numbers on their own as well.

Residents simply can dial 211 to register for help.

When the special-needs registry began a year ago, Gov. Rick Perry's homeland security director Steve McCraw admitted the idea would pose hurdles to overcome.

He said some were concerned that coastal residents living near the Mexican border might be fearful of trusting government.

But McCraw emphasized the registry could spell the difference between life and death.

"I think there is a lot of fear — particularly in immigrant communities but not exclusively — that people have in sharing their information with the government," said Rebecca Bernhardt, immigration policy director for the ACLU of Texas.

Bernhardt said local officials are wise to prepare for more special-needs residents than only those who register.

"Sometimes people's fears are based on actual experience," she said, that government can and sometimes does misuse information about its residents.