Natchez &8212; Three barges transporting 20 prefabricated Habitat for Humanity houses to New Orleans were due to pass Natchez today at about 3 a.m. First scheduled to pass in the afternoon today, the boats were 12 hours ahead of schedule by Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for Habitat said.

&8220;These materials will be unloaded and stored in New Orleans until the infrastructure is ready,&8221; said Kate Pride Brown, spokesman for Habitat in Atlanta.

The houses headed for New Orleans are available as a result of more than $61.4 million pledged to Habitat after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area.

&8220;It&8217;s been wonderful how people have really come together to make a difference,&8221; Brown said.

Habitat, an ecumenical Christian ministry that has built more than 200,000 houses in dozens of countries since 1976, ordinarily does not respond to disasters. &8220;But the devastation in this case is so huge,&8221; Brown said.

Plans are under way to do similar work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. &8220;There are no Habitat affiliates on the Gulf Coast, and we&8217;ll have to start from scratch there,&8221; she said. &8220;They&8217;re not quite ready. But we do have a plan.&8221;

Using prefabricated materials is another new experience for Habitat, she said. &8220;We&8217;ve shipped materials before, but not the prefabs.&8221; Materials for each house cost $75,000.

One barge, donated by Ingram Barge Co., is transporting materials for eight houses. The other two barges, supplied at no charge by TECO Barge Line, hold the remaining houses.

The barges are scheduled to reach New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day.

Dan Martin, senior vice president of Ingram, said his company is pleased to be a part of the process. &8220;This is obviously an important humanitarian voyage that Habitat has brought together &8212; helping many people in need in the Gulf Coast area &8212; and at Ingram we are proud to be a part of it,&8221; he said.