Finding Shelter Here: Families from swamped Gulf Coast welcomed

When Susie and Brien Toso heard that Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast, they and their three children packed for a weeklong vacation by the beach. Sand toys, bathing suits, and towels were tossed in the car and they left their house in north New Orleans for Fort Walton Beach, Fla., 40 miles from the Alabama border.

But then officials evacuated Fort Walton Beach, as well, and the family headed southeast to Panama City when the storm hit. They had offers to stay with family in Baton Rouge, La., but a cousin also offered them her summer house in Amagansett. They chose to come to the East End.

It is unclear how many evacuees from the Gulf Coast have come to the East End, but several have settled into houses in the area and have registered children at local schools.

It took the Tosos three days and a new portable DVD player - purchased at a Wal-Mart in Jacksonville, Fla. - to travel from Panama City to Amagansett.

"It's normal here," Ms. Toso said. "Phones are still down in Baton Rouge. There's no room in the schools."

So James and Caroline Toso, 5-year-old twins, are in kindergarten in Amagansett. "The school has just been great," Ms. Toso said. "They have acclimated very well. Every day they come home saying, 'I have a new best

friend.' "

Two families who fled Hurricane Katrina are sending children to the Amagansett School. There is one student who transferred to East Hampton, and one student at the Child Development Center of the Hamptons Charter School. The Springs School has five children from three Gulf Coast families enrolled.

Private schools have given scholarships to students affected by the storm. The Ross School has waived tuition for a student from Mississippi. And according to Richard Malone, the head of the Morriss Center School, that institution was the first school to offer its open spaces to students displaced by Katrina. It does so through the New York Independent Schools Association Web site. Two students have taken advantage of the offer.

Officials at both Morriss and Ross have said they will use the Web site to find hosts for families willing to relocate to the East End.

The schools have become centers for many of the relocated families, providing a sense of community for parents and children, as well as a network. In Amagansett, the PTA started collecting clothes for the Tosos before they arrived.

"One of the families told us to send the clothes to New Orleans. The other family gave us the sizes of the children," said Judith Wooster, Amagansett's superintendent.

In Springs, the school has worked with the Community Outreach Program to provide resources to Katrina evacuees.

The Charter School has been collecting clothes for Stephen Early, 13, its newest student, who came to Springs with only a backpack.

Last month, Stephen had just left his mother's house there for New Orleans, where he attended school and lived with his grandfather. He had been in school only one week when Katrina hit. They evacuated the city, but ran out of gas en route to Baton Rouge.

"There was no gas, there were no hotel rooms," Caroline Sallinger, Stephen's mother, said. "They ended up sleeping in a car at a rest stop."

Through text messages on cellphones and collect calls - Ms. Sallinger and the Tosos said that phone lines and cellphone towers are still down all over the Gulf Coast - she was able to direct Stephen and her extended family to a cousin in Texas. Stephen flew back to Long Island and on Sept. 12 enrolled at the Charter School, where he is running for vice president of the student council.

Ms. Toso and her three children plan to stay in Amagansett until about Christmas. They hope that they will be back in their home in New Orleans by the time the second half of the school year starts, on Jan. 3. Mr. Toso, who works for Hibernia National Bank, which was recently purchased by Capital One, plans to commute between Louisiana and New York over that time.

He was going to fly to New Orleans on Tuesday to inspect the family's home of five years. His plans were delayed one week, though, after the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, ordered a mandatory evacuation in preparation for Hurricane Rita, which is expected to hit the Gulf Coast this weekend.

A neighbor who was given a pass to return to New Orleans took digital pictures of the Toso's house and car and posted them on the Web. The family said there is two to three feet of flood damage, plus roof damage from the winds and a car full of mold.

"We want to get in there and start ripping out the drywall," Mr. Toso said. The family plans to rebuild their house.

They also said they haven't received any mail sent to their New Orleans address since they left. "There are probably water and electric bills in there," Mr. Toso said. "What are they going to do, turn it off?"

Meanwhile, several local organizations continue to collect donations for people affected by Katrina. The Jewish Center of the Hamptons on Wood Lane in East Hampton will hold an emergency-supplies drive Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Among the items that have been requested are sneakers, clean underwear, toiletries, and nonperishable food in plastic containers.

The Springs School will collect donations to the Red Cross at an Oct. 1 car wash.