[09/25/02]City Auditorium will become a shelter for evacuees if needed, emergency officials said in Vicksburg. And it may be since area motel managers say they are booked solid today through Saturday for people looking to outrun Isidore, a tropical storm that is expected to be a hurricane again by nightfall.

Here, the storm was bringing rain and light wind, and a path through central Mississippi appeared likely.

Earlier this week, hotels as far north as Hattiesburg were full. Today, hotels all along the Interstate 20 corridor are reporting no vacancies through the weekend.

Dan Davis, general manager of the Fairfield Inn, said late Tuesday he was sending evacuees north for the closest available rooms.

“Over the last three days it’s been murder,” Davis said. “I’ve had people calling today, but we just don’t have any rooms left.”

Linda Hollowell, general manager of Battlefield Inn, also said the hotel is full tonight through Saturday and is looking at possibly housing people in two large conference rooms there.

“Our main concern is when we get the evacuees in and we can’t help them is finding some place for them,” Hollowell said. “You hate to think of people having to sleep in their cars.”

Greg Eslick, general manager for the Vicksburg Inn, Hampton Inn and Econo Lodge in Vicksburg, said those inns are also full through Saturday.

Four years ago, local hotels overflowed about 200 evacuees from Hurricane George into local shelters in Vicksburg.

Beverly Connelly of the local American Red Cross said she will be meeting with others later today to make plans. “Right now, I have no idea how many evacuees to anticipate,” Connelly said.

A hurricane watch stretched some 300 miles from Cameron in southwestern Louisiana to Pascagoula, meaning the area could start feeling hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or greater by tonight.

A mandatory evacuation was issued Tuesday for Grand Isle, an island resort community south of New Orleans, and several voluntary evacuations were issued today along the Mississippi coast.

L.W. “Bump” Callaway, director of Warren County Emergency Management, said the storm is continuing to drift east and should cut across Mississippi after coming ashore early Thursday.

Typically, winds and rain from the coast can be severe in Vicksburg after a hurricane but Callaway said he expects the center of Isidore to pass to the east of here.

“As the way the storm is tracking, the impact here should be minimal,” Callaway said.

He said there is still a possibility of tornadoes in the area after the storm comes inland.