Oklahoma Preparing In Case Of Hurricane Evacuees

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma emergency management officials are preparing in case evacuations are ordered along the Gulf Coast because of Tropical Storm Gustav.

It has been three years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, completely destroying parts of New Orleans.

Another storm, Gustav, is on the horizon, packing a punch and heading straight toward the Louisiana gulf coast.

The storm is still days out, but people along the Gulf Coast and in Oklahoma have begun their preparations.

Oklahoma Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood said officials are part of twice daily conference calls with officials in Texas.

He said any evacuations would likely go first to points in northern Louisiana, then to San Antonio, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth areas before evacuees would be sent to Oklahoma.

Ashwood said it'll be another 48 hours before officials have a good idea where Gustav will even make landfall.

Emergency management agencies and volunteers across Oklahoma are monitoring Gustav's destructive path as it churns through the Caribbean heading to the Gulf Coast.

"We'll just have to watch the track of the storm," said Red Cross of Central Oklahoma CEO Vince Hernandez. "Sometimes, they're right about the track. Sometimes they're wrong."

While local and state emergency responders brainstormed over preparation plans Thursday morning, the Red Cross scouted sites that could be used as shelters for evacuees.

"You want them to be close to each other so they can move supplies around and drive around," Hernandez said. "At the same time, you want it to be comfortable. You want security. All those things are important."

The Cox Center in Oklahoma City, which was used to house hundreds of evacuees during the ice storm in December, was a site considered to house people during another disaster.

"All you can do is prepare for the worst, but hope for the best," Hernandez said.

Gustav has winds approaching hurricane force and forecasters said it could make landfall Tuesday anywhere from Texas to the Florida Panhandle.

Staff and Wire Reports