FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Gov. Mitt Romney (search) said Sunday that 2,500 refugees from Hurricane Katrina (search) will arrive in the state for emergency within the next 72 hours.
Romney said he was told Sunday by the federal government to prepare for to accept the displaced people from the hurricane. He said the evacuees will be temporarily housed at Otis Air National Guard Base (search) on Cape Cod. It was not immediately clear what state they would come from, though the governor said he expected they would arrive from Texas, where many of the evacuees have been placed.
Romney said that Otis was preferable to other suggestions of where to house the evacuees, such as Boston's convention center, because the base comes equipped with beds, a school, medical facilities, a movie theater and other amenities for the evacuees.
He had no estimate of the cost, but said that it would be shared with the federal government and that "cost is not one of our considerations."
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