Well, things are going to get interesting. I'm a Red Cross shelter manager and will be stationed at the Red Cross shelter at the Orange County Convention & Expo center near the TX/LA border. My first shift will be Sunday night, 8pm-8am, working the registration desk.

If possible, I'll give you reports on what I'm seeing.
-Blast

good for you! hope all goes well....

Good luck and be safe!

She's expected to be a real serious one. Best of luck to you and all in her path!

shelter kit.... folding chaise lounge, cooler with ice and cold cuts/drinks, battery fan... LED area light...battery radio... noise cancelling head set to get some sleep....tooth brush/paste, bar soap... if you carry a flashlight, cable tie a split ring so you can attach it to your belt...BTDT

Red Cross shelter rules and space limitations would prevent the chaise lounge and the cooler would have to be left in your car. We give everyone a bag with a towel, wash cloth, bar of soap, razor, feminine hygiene, shampoo, shaving gel, toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss. Kids get similar bags but they also include a small toy. Everyone also gets two blankets.

The flashlight, radio (until 10pm quiet time), and cable ties are a good idea.
-Blast

Blast,
How are the conditions where you are? Were there a lot of folks from the greater New Orleans area able to get to your location? Ida seems to have been pretty serious from the reports were are getting up here.

Update:

I worked a shelter in Orange, TX from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday morning. This was an overflow shelter, meaning when people arrived at another shelter that was full the people were directed to use. There was no storm damage at my location.

As an overflow shelter, the workers weren't local but most they were flown in from other locations. Orange, TX is two hours from Houston and I was the only TX resident working there. The othe volunteers were from Oregon, Chicago, Arizona, and Washington D.C.

Clients came in with nothing. Most came from areas where their entire neighborhood was flattened. Most were from the Houma area. We give everyone a toiletries bag (soap, shampoo, kleenix, deodorant, feminine protection, razor, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss), a towel (one towel for entire stay), two blankets, and a cot.

The shelter was just off I-10, the main interstate between Houston and New Orleans. The gas station there was out of fuel by about 10pm Sunday evening.

Insurance companies book up entire hotels in the region to house their customers who lost their houses. Remaining rooms are taken by repair crews. If you needed a hotel room it was probably going to be 200 miles away from the impacted zone. Red Cross volunteers either slept in our vehicles or on cots with the rest of the clients.

Cell phone access was impacted even in Orange, TX which is a little over 100 miles west of where the damage started.

People are people, even more so in an extreme situation.

The Red Cross's goal is no one stays in a shelter more than two days. We'll work with you to find alternative lodging with a friend, family, or even a hotel somewhere. The shelters are absolutely bare bones and most people want to get out ASAP. However, there are some people that for whatever reason don't have the ability to go anywhere else. These end up making the largest percentage of clients over time.

I'll post more as things come to me and answer any questions you'll have.
-Blast

My one time helping to operate a shelter (hastily contrived by my local CERT, no Red Cross involvement) we had less to give to clients and more austere conditions than you describe. Most notably there were no cots, just folding tables for people to sleep on. And yet, once the emergency had passed there was a group that didn't want to leave.

When interviewed by shelter staff it turned out that none of them claimed to be homeless or far from home, and only a few needed a ride to go anywhere.

Nasty storm. Hope everyone is staying safe.