With 31 evacuees remaining at the Vicksburg Convention Center shelter and Hurricane Rita bearing down on the western Gulf Coast, government and volunteer entities are sticking with a closing time of 6 p.m. Friday.

During a Tuesday briefing at the convention center, officials said no other shelters would be operating past that time, pending any widespread evacuations of the Gulf Coast.

The Vicksburg Area chapter of the American Red Cross obtained approval from the national organization to move remaining evacuees into area hotels for 14 days starting Saturday.

Vouchers similar to the ones used earlier in the evacuation process would pay for their stay, if needed.

“Chaplains are working at the same time to transition them,” said Janice Sawyer, emergency services director with the local chapter.

Letters were sent to remaining evacuees Tuesday explaining the closure. In it, they are advised of final meal times and appointments with shelter coordinators about housing arrangements for those without them.

Those without housing arrangements or food were asked to call Living Word Baptist Church at 601-661-0680.

An information desk would still be operating in the convention center lobby from 8 to 5 next week.

One who left Tuesday was Yvette Mattox of Gretna, La., who was the “mayor” of the evacuee-run Crescent City community at the convention center shelter.

At the briefing, Mattox thanked Red Cross volunteers and government officials present in an emotional farewell before leaving for South Carolina to stay with a sister instead of risking a return to suburban New Orleans with another storm threatening the area.

In other developments: