NATCHEZ &045; Percy Johnson rode out Ivan last year at his house in Century, Fla.

It’ll never happen again.

So with Dennis breathing down their necks, Johnson and his family joined his parents and other family members at the Red Cross shelter in Natchez this weekend.

The Johnsons, who live near Pensacola, chose Natchez because Percy’s father J.T. had stayed here less than a year ago during Ivan.

&uot;These people are nice,&uot; he said. &uot;They have done an extraordinary job.&uot;

With children and grandchildren playing in the corner, J.T. and Percy tried not to think about what might be happening back home.

&uot;I rode out Ivan in my house,&uot; Percy said. &uot;It was scary. I decided I would never ride out a Category 3 again.&uot;

The Johnsons were among 48 people who were checked in at the shelter at the Steckler Multi-Purpose Center Sunday afternoon.

That’s a much smaller number of people than the hundreds of evacuees the Adams County Red Cross hosted during Ivan, but shelter coordinator Don Winter expects a busy storm season this year.

&uot;This one’s sort of like a drill,&uot; Winter said. &uot;This is sort of preparation for what may be coming.&uot;

Red Cross was expecting more evacuees but likely didn’t host as many because south Louisiana residents did not evacuate, Winter said.

Still, volunteers were on hand and local businesses such as Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola donated supplies for the shelter.

Winter hopes more volunteers will learn disaster training skills in coming weeks, in case Red Cross has to set up another shelter.

&uot;Every time you do something you learn how to fine-tune,&uot; Winter said.

&uot;You need to get local people to get training before we have impact.&uot;

Last year, Red Cross opened four shelters, but Winter doubted Sunday that the organization could support so many shelters this year without more trained volunteers.

Anyone interested in volunteering for Red Cross can call the chapter office at 601-442-3656.