About 100 American Red Cross volunteers prepared Sunday for the game plan of how to handle the nearly 1,000 evacuees expected to seek shelter at the Neshoba County Coliseum.

"The Red Cross is here to make sure that the people are safe, and so between the Red Cross, the local community and everybody else, we work together to make them safe," said Red Cross shelter manager Paul Smith.

With plenty of food and water, they are prepared for the worst, but hoping for the best.

"It gets pretty hectic," said Smith.

And hectic was the case for one New Orleans family as their car broke down on the way to the shelter. But a Philadelphia family brought them here. They're the Woolridge family of 8, including five children, and a precious 5-day-old infant. Having lost everything in Katrina and staying in New Orleans during the storm, they were not going that same route again.

"I've experienced enough with me and my kids, and I just thank God that we're still living," said New Orleans evacuee Kendall Woolridge.

And while many will be sheltered inside, others will be sheltered outside in their RVs, free of charge.

"It's a big help when you are able to just roll out and find a spot, but the big thing is finding a place because there's nothing within miles of here to find. And luckily today they just opened this up and made it easy for the public to access what they have here you know," said Hancock County evacuee Wayne Cuevas.

The Woolridge family is grateful this time they can brave the storm comfortably in a safe shelter.

That family was the first to register Sunday afternoon. At last count, 150 people were at the shelter and at least another hundred were expected by midnight.

As of Monday morning, 400-500 slots were still available for evacuees at the Philadelphia shelter.