Coliseum will host 2,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina

The Mid-South Coliseum is expecting 2,000 Mississippi citizens starting at 6 p.m. Thursday night. The Coliseum will be open to "special needs" victims of Hurricane Katrina who were in hospitals in southern Mississipi that can no longer support them.

While the 2,000 will be arriving with their own medical care, the city will provide needs like oxygen tanks and other necessities that may not have been transported, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton said during a press conference held Thursday afternoon.

Herenton said the city is also taking an inventory of vacant houses and apartments that may be able to house people who have been displaced by the storm on a longer term basis.

Kevin Kane, president of the Memphis Convention and Visitors' Bureau, said the CVB, which opened its phone lines to volunteers last night, will open a new call center that will be operate from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.

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