Area churches housed thousands for weeks on end after Katrina. They learned, and now preparation is key. Parkway Baptist Church &8212; home to about 300 after the storm &8212; has begun to stock at least three days of supplies. &8220;We are planning to open our doors for another hurricane season but we&8217;re hoping and praying that we won&8217;t have to,&8221; said the Rev. Jason Cole, the church&8217;s associate pastor. Cole said the volunteers at Parkway Baptist would not begin stocking food until a hurricane is predicted to strike the surrounding areas. First Baptist Church of Vidalia recently decided to partner with Parkway to shelter evacuees. Pastor the Rev. Dan Glenn said teamwork was the key word in preparedness for this year&8217;s season. &8220;We are partnering on the front end of a large scale evacuation,&8221; he said.

Last year, FBC opened as a non-Red Cross shelter for several weeks. A lack of showers puts First Baptist in a tough position in the event of another storm like Katrina, but the overflow of First Baptist volunteers will be steered to the Parkway shelter. Glenn said Parkway&8217;s facilities are ready and superior to handle a disaster. If the need arises, First Baptist will be opened as a temporary shelter to those who can&8217;t fit in the other places, he said. After Katrina, a temporary shower trailer was placed at Parkway. At New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 441 evacuees were cramped last year, but the church worked between hurricane seasons to beat that problem. &8220;We really packed them in last year,&8221; Bishop Stanley Searcy said. New Hope built a new facility with evacuees in mind, Searcy said. The new fellowship hall can house 45 to 50 more evacuees this year. &8220;We have installed three washing machines, three dryers and three showers,&8221; Searcy said. &8220;We also have equipped the fellowship hall with television so that victims might see what&8217;s going on in the news at that time.&8221; The Rev. Bo Swilley of the Community Chapel Church of God has also updated the church facilities with potential hurricane victims in mind. &8220;We&8217;ve changed out the home plumbing components with industrial ones this year,&8221; Swilley said.

The gymnasium of the Community Chapel church has also been equipped with an air conditioning unit and an ice machine. &8220;Last year during Hurricane Rita it was more of a weekend thing so, even though we had more people, we were fine but you never know if it&8217;s going to be an extended stay or not,&8221; Swilley said. &8220;We&8217;re planning for the worst.&8221; The Rev. Bill Hurt of First Baptist Church Natchez said after Hurricane Katrina the Red Cross certified the church immediately to provide shelter for those leaving New Orleans. Hurt said that the main thing that the Red Cross was impressed with was the church&8217;s organization with its volunteers. &8220;I&8217;m not a very braggadocios man, but I will brag on our church members who volunteered,&8221; Hurt said. &8220;They were all very well organized during the first few days after Katrina.&8221; This year First Baptist has been pre-approved as a Red Cross shelter and since supplies are readily available by the Red Cross, Hurt said that they are just concentrating on training volunteers and securing them. &8220;I think we&8217;re in pretty good shape,&8221; Hurt said. &8220;The main thing we want to have available in a hurry is the cooperation of our volunteers.&8221;

John Gunn contributed to this report.