NATCHEZ &045; As of Tuesday afternoon’s briefing, it appeared Hurricane Ivan would make landfall close to the Mississippi-Alabama line &045; meaning only occasional wind gusts and a half-inch of rain for the Miss-Lou.

But that didn’t stop local residents from flooding Wal-Mart to stock up on canned meat, bottled water and batteries.

That also didn’t stop travelers from as far south as New Orleans from driving to the Miss-Lou to seek refuge from the storm’s effects after officials there urged residents to evacuate.

With that in mind, the Adams County chapter of the Red Cross had set up a shelter at Natchez High’s Steckler Multi-Purpose Center for out-of-towners who left their homes due to the storm.

That shelter can hold up to about 400 people.

But shelter organizer Don Winters said there was no way to tell how many people arrive due to the storm &045; or exactly when the bulk of visitors arrive, due to backed-up traffic in such places as New Orleans.

If that shelter fills, the Red Cross is ready to set up shelters in the Natchez High gym, at the National Guard Armory and at local churches on short notice, Winters said.

Concordia Parish school officials said the Vidalia and Ferriday high school gyms would be open today for use as shelters, with food service personnel available to provide meals.

Hotels throughout the Miss-Lou are booked solid this week as coastal residents flee Hurricane Ivan.

&uot;We’ve had 1,000 calls today,&uot; said Comfort Inn desk clerk Lashunda King. &uot;I’m not exaggerating.&uot;

The Eola Hotel was booked up as well. Desk clerk Carl Elmore said most of the people looking for rooms were from the New Orleans and Metairie areas.

Meanwhile, city department heads were also getting requests to house certain categories of evacuees.

By Tuesday morning, Tourism Director Walter Tipton had agreed to lease part of the Natchez Convention Center to house 100 nursing home residents from New Orleans today and Thursday.

Sabrina Bartley, executive director of the Natchez Senior Citizen Multipurpose Center, said she had received calls from assisted living facilities to the south looking for places in Natchez to house residents.

Mayor Phillip West said he would keep abreast of the latest news on the storm’s possible effects on the Miss-Lou and what local services and facilities were available.

West said he would relay any new storm information to aldermen, some of whom were already fielding calls from concerned constituents.

Civil Defense Director George Souderes said that as of a National Weather Service conference call at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Miss-Lou was expected to dodge the worst of the storm.

With the storm predicted to land near the Mississippi-Alabama line, the Miss-Lou could expect few sustained high winds, although wind gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hours could be felt, and only 1/2 inch of rain was predicted, Souderes said.

&uot;They (at the Weather Service) are predicted that once the eye passes onto land, (Ivan) is going to take a northeast turn,&uot; he said.

Just in case, however, Souderes has called a meeting of local officials and representatives of emergency response agencies, public works departments and health care facilities to a meeting at 10 a.m. today.

That meeting will be held at Copiah-Lincoln Community College’s Natchez Campus.

There, Souderes will brief attendees on the latest weather news &045; the next Weather Service conference call was scheduled for 5 a.m. this morning &045; and remind them to take precautions in case of storm effects.

Those precautions would range from the Police Department checking its emergency generator for the dispatch center to health care facilities making sure they have the staff available to handle more patients.

Across the Mississippi River, Vidalia is &uot;as prepared as can be,&uot; Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

&uot;All department heads are on alert,&uot; he said. &uot;We’re expecting a tremendous amount of rain if it comes our way.&uot;

The city will have sandbags available in case of flooding, Copeland said. The city’s generators will be used to power the water wells if necessary.

Copeland encouraged residents to keep an eye on elderly neighbors who might need help if the storm is bad.

&uot;We’re going to be out in force,&uot; he said. &uot;You hate to say this, but we hope and pray it goes somewhere else other than Louisiana.&uot;

Local residents are being encouraged to keep abreast of the latest Ivan news through the media and to take common-sense steps to guard against Ivan’s possible effects, Souderes said.

Checking generators and flashlights to make sure they work; stocking adequate food, water and personal supplies; and securing loose house and yard fixtures are among the precautions he recommends.

At Wal-Mart Tuesday afternoon, Co-Manager Richard Stinson said shoppers filled the store to stock up on such items as D batteries, Vienna sausages, Spam, potted meat and bottled water.

Wal-Mart had stocked so much water by that time that pallets of bottled water were standing near the front of the store.

There were so many customers &uot;that it looks more like a Saturday (at Wal-Mart) than a Tuesday,&uot; Stinson said.

Staff writer Julie Finley contributed to this report.