Six shelters in Warren County took in 156 evacuees from coastal Mississippi and Louisiana within hours Sunday afternoon as more cars drove in and the rain began to fall.

“The number of people we’re taking in is continually growing,” Red Cross Emergency Services director Janice Sawyer said Sunday afternoon. “And we’re expecting to take more in through late tonight and tomorrow.”

The city’s nearly 2,000 rooms at 26 hotels and motels were booked, and coastal Mississippi and Louisiana car tags could be seen on parking lots across the city as evacuees plotted their next moves, some heading to local shelters and some driving farther north.

Thirteen members of Joshua Belt’s immediate and extended family moved in to Calvary Baptist Church on Old Highway 27 around noon, following an exhausting 20-hour trip from Houma, La., that left them sleeping in their cars Saturday night in Natchez.

Numbers to keep LOCAL

 Emergency management hotline – 601-801-3500

Shelter information hotline – 601-801-3443

Hearing impaired text message hotline – 601-415-9489

 To report clogged storm drains – 601-636-3411

STATE

Department of Transportation traffic information hotline – 1-866-521-6368

 Department of Employment Security hotline – 1-888-844-3577

LOUISIANA

 Louisiana State Police hotline, including road closure and contraflow updates – 1-800-469-4828

ENTERGY

 To report power outages — 1-800-368-3749

 Fax line for special needs medical patient in advance of an outage – 1-866-626-5491

“We’ve never evacuated before, so we really didn’t know where to go,” said Belt, whose family sheltered at a charity hospital in Houma during Hurricane Katrina three years ago. “We thought we had a shelter to stay at in Natchez, but they kept pushing back the open time and eventually said they wouldn’t have a place for us. We tried the hotels, but they were all full, of course.”

Belt said about 60 evacuees were turned away in Natchez along with his family, with many of them saying they would try to find shelter in Vicksburg.

Volunteers at Calvary Baptist Church had been preparing since Saturday for just such an influx of evacuees, said Shelter Manger Bill Collins, and were at the shelter at 7 a.m. Sunday to ready for the noon opening.

We actually opened early for one family who had been in the parking lot since 3 a.m.,” said Collins. “They had stayed here three years ago during Hurricane Rita and knew where to come.”

Collins said the shelter has enough supplies to house the evacuees for three days, but added more supplies could be gathered if it appears they will need to keep the doors open longer.

“Right now, we have sufficient volunteers and supplies. Our greatest concern is if we lose power we’ll lose the lights and the air conditioning.

We have some small generators to keep our coolers and freezers on, but we don’t have a large generator here,” said Collins.

Belt’s extended family was just happy Sunday to finally find a place to park their six vehicles, get some rest and let their four chihuahuas stretch their legs.

“It was a fight. A lot of people were rushing to get out. It was hectic for a while,” said James Ordone. “At this point everyone is most concerned with taking a hot shower and getting some rest.”

Rain associated with the front being pushed in by Hurricane Gustav began falling at mid-afternoon with much of south Warren County, along Fisher Ferry Road, “getting a real downpour for about 30 minutes,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. By late afternoon, spotty rain showers were being reported across the county.

The only local Red Cross shelter that had not taken in evacuees as of Sunday afternoon was Mayersville Multipurpose Center in Issaquena County, said Sawyer. Collectively, the seven shelters in Warren and Issaquena counties have a maximum capacity of about 625.

The Vicksburg Auditorium has been identified as a “shelter of last resort” capable of taking in 150 additional people. Statewide, 104 Red Cross shelters have been identified, said Sawyer, and are capable of taking in 27,000.

Don Arnold, Vicksburg spokesman for Entergy Mississippi, had reported that utility trucks from other states were expected in the city late Sunday in case electrical power fails.

The shelters

Facilities opened as shelters Sunday are:

Bovina Baptist Church, U.S. 80, 601-636-0682, capacity 75. Calvary Baptist Church, 2878 Mississippi 27, 601-636-7501, 75. Church of Christ, 3333 N. Frontage Road, 601-636-4801, 50. Eagle Lake Baptist Church, 15481 Mississippi 465, 601-279-4301, 50 First Baptist Church, 1607 Cherry St., 601-636-2493, 175. Hawkins United Methodist Church, 3736 Halls Ferry Road, 601-636-2242, 150. Mayersville Multipurpose Center, 132 Court, 662-873-6439, 50.

The first shelter for those with special medical needs opened Saturday at Hinds Community College in Raymond, with more information available by calling 1-866-458-4948.

Salvation Army Capt. Patrick Lyons said volunteers were at the Mississippi Welcome Center off Interstate 20 Sunday to direct evacuees to shelters and provide local and state emergency response contact information.

“I’m being told they had about 800 people come through just today,” said Lyons. “Some are passing through, and some are staying.” Pace said deputies, also, were passing out shelter phone numbers and maps to direct evacuees.

Lyons said the Salvation Army is providing about 175 hot meals a day at the First Baptist Church shelter and is prepared to provide up to 300 meals a day if necessary. Additionally, Lyons said cleanup kits will be provided as needed for local residents following Hurricane Gustav.

Georgia Lynn, president of the Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society, said six pets were taken in on Sunday, and six horses were sent to Jackson. The animal shelter was going to stay open into the night Sunday and reopen at 7:30 this morning.