HOUSTON -- Refugees fleeing from the path of Hurricane Katrina packed Houston shelters and hotels Monday, Local 2 reported.

Joan Johnson, president of the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Houston, said Monday that most of Houston's 58,000 hotel rooms were booked, though a few remained available near the Johnson Space Center and suburbs.

"The city is pretty full," she said.

An American Red Cross shelter at the Mont Belvieu Senior Center, located at 11607 Eagle Drive, reached its capacity Monday morning, forcing volunteers to open a second shelter in nearby Baytown at the Baytown Community Center, located at 2407 Market Street.

Evacuees searching for shelter should call (866) GET-INFO (438-4636).

Katrina plowed into New Orleans on Monday with howling 145-mph winds and blinding rain that flooded some homes to the ceilings and ripped away part of the roof of the Superdome, where thousands of people had taken shelter.

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"I took my two boys, my husband and we left. I've got my family that's with me and we'll be OK," one evacuee told Local 2.

Terrie Stevens, a church volunteer at the Mont Belvieu shelter, said a lot of people started cooking at 5 a.m. and that people from the community had donated food and drinks to keep the evacuees comfortable.

"This is the church in action. This is God's feet working," Stevens said.

An official with Houston-Area American Red Cross are calling this endeavor the largest volunteer effort to date.

Red Cross volunteers prepared Sunday to send volunteers and equipment to areas along the Gulf Coast between Louisiana and Florida.

Officials said they also plan to send five mobile kitchens and 30 feeding trucks to areas hit hardest by the storm. They said every feeding unit in the southwest region would travel east.

So far, 21 Red Cross shelters have been set up in Texas and Louisiana for evacuees.

Other local organizations are also doing their part to help residents impacted by Katrina.

The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center has sent blood and platelets to New Orleans to assist with the treatment of storm victims.

CenterPoint Energy crews from Houston have already started to work on reestablishing power knocked out by Katrina's first landfall in Florida. Seventy-five linemen and crewmembers left their Channelview headquarters Saturday morning.

The Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has taken in a few hundred animals from the Louisiana SPCA's adoption program and stray holdings.

Evacuees Seek Shelter Along Interstate 10

Louisiana residents fleeing from Katrina took shelter in churches and hotels along Interstate 10 in southeast Texas, some gathering around televisions to watch the storm's progress toward their homes.

Will Mitchell, a desk clerk at a Comfort Inn east of Houston, said Monday that about 10 of the hotel's 59 rooms were occupied by hurricane evacuees. He said there hasn't been vacancy since Friday, but that people are still calling and coming by.

"They're tired and they've been on the road all day and they don't know what they're going home to," Janie Johnson, service delivery manager with the American Red Cross chapter in Orange, said late Sunday. The city of Orange had opened three shelters by late Sunday. "They're tired and they're worried."

The evacuees began arriving Saturday as Katrina churned across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and strengthened. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper along I-10, a major east-west route from New Orleans. Janie Johnson described it as a "river of headlights" Sunday night.

With that river came a steady stream of people seeking shelter.

About 100 people settled in at the First Baptist Church, where activities were set up for children. Shelters then opened up at First Presbyterian Church and Community Christian Church.

Pets Seek Shelter, Too

Local veterinarian clinics and city animal control took care of the pets residents fled with.

Some hotels with a "no pets" policy bent their own rules to allow evacuees to bring their four-legged friends in the rooms.

Guests at the Holiday Inn Select on the Southwest Freeway had dozens of dogs and cats at the hotel.

"There wasn't an option. We had to take them with us," evacuee Lori Oramous said.

The owners gathered in grassy areas so their beloved pets could find relief outdoors.

Stephen Bobeck had more than 400 pounds of pets in his two hotel rooms.

"I couldn't image leaving them home -- either that or I can't imagine taking my TV and stuff over my dogs. I grabbed them and a few family pictures," Bobeck said.

The Holiday Inn required a $150 refundable pet deposit in case there was any damage to the rooms.

The hotel urged other facilities to also accept pets during a time of need.

"There are hotels downtown that we worked with to help those without rooms to take pets. They made exceptions," said Debbie Hollier, with Holiday Inn Select Greenway.

In nearby Beaumont, about 260 people had checked in at the shelter the American Red Cross set up in a building at Ford Park.

John E. Bergeron, a volunteer and shelter manager, said most of those who had checked in came from New Orleans. Some had gone as far as their financial resources would take them.

"They were happy we were here," he said.

Bergeron said the shelter, which can hold up to 500 people, would stay open as long as needed.

Officials at Houston's Memorial Hermann Healthcare System talked with officials at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon. Besides offering information on their experience evacuating patients during Tropical Storm Allison, Memorial Hermann officials offered to take in patients from Ochsner. But transfer plans were canceled when winds grew too strong to transport patients by helicopter.

Tom Flanagan, assistant vice president of emergency services for Memorial Hermann, said that they are awaiting word from Ochsner whether they will need to transfer patients after the storm passes.

Meanwhile, Memorial Hermann Memorial City has prepared a 20-bed unit and Memorial Hermann Northwest has prepared intensive care beds.

Katrina Dampens Travelers' Plans

Hurricane Katrina affected some travelers' plans.

The Carnival Conquest, based out of the Port Of New Orleans, docked in Galveston on Sunday.

Some of the cruise ship's passengers were flown home from Houston; others have been forced to wait until the storm passes through the Crescent City.

Officials with the Houston Airport System told Local 2 that all flights to Lafayette and Biloxi from Hobby and Bush Intercontinental airports have been canceled.

HAS officials said airlines would try to resume flights to those cities on Tuesday.

Coast Guard Pulls 13 From Water Near Freeport

Thirteen surfers had to be pulled to safety Sunday off Quintana Beach on the Gulf of Mexico after becoming fatigued in 15-foot seas created by Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Troy Davis, a petty officer with the Coast Guard, said rip tides were strong. Most of the rescues occurred 400 to 500 yards offshore.

"That rip tide is real bad," Gary Blanchard, of Freeport, said in a story in Monday's editions of The Facts. "It took me almost an hour to get in."

Surfside Beach, about 60 miles south of Houston, closed the Surfside jetties used by many surfers as a launching point at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Because of the danger high tides and rip currents pose, officials shut down all the beaches along Brazoria County's 23-mile coast until further notice.

Texas Task Force One To Help In Wake Of Katrina

President George W. Bush has prepared the federal government for a massive relief effort.

Bush ensured federal response after the storm would not be delayed by issuing emergency disaster declarations for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

The declarations will make federal aid available to assist with disaster relief. Such declarations are rarely made before a storm hits.

Texas Task Force One, part of the 28 team national urban search and rescue system under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will offer help in the hurricane's aftermath.

The 90-member team is trained and equipped to locate and rescue those trapped by flooding, collapsed structures and confined space.

Perry has also authorized the activation up to 200 members of the Texas State Guard to support shelter operations and assist the American Red Cross in southeast and eastern Texas with evacuees arriving from Louisiana.

Donate To Disaster Relief Fund

The American Red Cross is accepting donations to its Disaster Relief Fund. Donations can be made:

By Phone:
(800) HELP-NOW (435-7669)

Online:
www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp

By Mail:
American Red Cross
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013

At local Red Cross chapters:
Find your local Red Cross chapter