Rooms were booked and shelters put on standby here as residents of the Gulf Coast area made plans to vacate in advance of Hurricane Dennis.

Hotels and motels across the city were filling up with coastal residents planning to dodge Dennis at least from Saturday through Monday nights. Local American Red Cross personnel were preparing to open shelters at up to five local churches, if needed.

“We’ve been getting calls constantly for reservations,” said the manager of Vicksburg’s Econo Lodge, Millie Womack. “I’m sure all hotels here are about the same.”

The Econo Lodge, 3330 Clay St., has 49 of the city’s 1,600 commercial hotel and motel rooms, not counting several dozen rooms in bed-and-breakfast inns.

Red Cross director Beverly Connelly and emergency-services director Janice Sawyer met Thursday night with about seven volunteers, including those who are to open and manage shelters at their churches as needed.

Many had also helped manage shelters in the same places last fall, around the time Hurricane Ivan hit the Gulf Coast on Sept. 16. Then four shelters were opened and were used by about 565 people. Others brought and stayed in their own shelters, including recreational vehicles and tents.

The shelter locations in order of opening, are: