Now he has lost his bearings.

"I knew where Utah was, but nobody told me that's where we were going. Nothing personal. It's nice. But I don't know anybody here," said Bergeron, among the first batch of 152 evacuees to arrive at the Camp Williams Utah Army National Guard training site.

Like others who arrived in smaller military planes, Bergeron wasn't told where he was headed when he boarded the JetBlue airliner Saturday at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. In fact, great pains were taken to keep their destination secret.

National Guard officials asked a reporter and photographer aboard two separate military planes not to identify their news organizations or tell the refugees where the planes were going. They explained some refugees on earlier flights complained or refused evacuation when told where they were going.

Federal emergency officials said pilots had their passengers' safety in mind. Few evacuees are holding a grudge.

But some argue, as a matter of respect and simple courtesy, they should have been told where they were landing.

"I asked four or five people, but they said they didn't know," said Bergeron, 54. "It wasn't until the airplane doors were shut and the engines started that they told us, Utah."

Michael Widomski, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said keeping destinations a secret wasn't an official policy decision, but more likely a last-minute response to trying circumstances.

He doesn't know if the practice was unique to Utah-bound flights.

"This is not a relocation effort. It would be great to provide air service to wherever they want. But that's not logistically possible," said Widomski. He said 13 states currently are sheltering refugees. So far, Utah, Arizona and Colorado are the farthest West.

"It isn't good or bad policy," said Widomski. "The priority is getting people into a safe, clean environment as fast as we can."

Not everyone was dismayed to find themselves thousands of miles from home in foreign surroundings.

"I was just happy to get out of there," said Antoinette LaFrance. The flight was the 61-year-old's first time on a plane and first visit to Utah.

"People applauded when they heard it was Utah," said Adolph Dennis, who came on a Sunday morning flight. "We heard it was getting awful crowded in Houston. Everyone has been so hospitable here."

At least one volunteer at Camp Williams says the scattershot rescue will make reconnecting families tougher. Violating victims' civil rights also adds insult to injury and reinforces their feelings of helplessness, said Christine Hurst, a certified crisis counselor.

Hurst recounted the experience of a young evacuee who on Saturday told a family member in Texas that she was en route to Houston only to wind up in Utah.

"Now the Red Cross has to send her to Houston. That's where her family is. There's no family here. It's been quite a culture shock for her."

All Hurst can do, she says, is "validate their feelings and tell them they have the right to be angry."

kstewart@sltrib.com