Evacuees at camp now below 100

The number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees at Camp Williams continues to dwindle, even as state officials prepare for the possibility of welcoming more hurricane survivors to Utah.

Less than 100 Katrina survivors remain at Camp Williams, the Utah National Guard training base converted into a mini-city for 583 Louisiana residents forced out of their homes by Katrina. The state has set an Oct. 1 target date for the remaining 98 people to either be in permanent housing in Utah or on their way home or to family in other parts of the country.

Meantime, nearly 2 million Texas residents spent Thursday fleeing their home state as Hurricane Rita bore down on the Gulf Coast.

Utah stands ready to accept some of those hurricane evacuees should it become necessary, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday during his monthly press conference on KUED Channel 7.

"We received a call from (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) a couple of days ago, just a heads up that they may be calling again with a request to place more evacuees with this storm depending on its trajectory," he said.

Glenn Lockwood of the national American Red Cross, and head of operations at Camp Williams, said it's unlikely any Rita evacuees will find their way to Utah.

"Giving my professional opinion, I don't think we'll get people from there," Lockwood said. "But that's not to say we're not ready."

Camp Williams still has ample supplies, from food to clothing, to serve any additional hurricane victims who might come to Utah, said Jeff Nigber with the state Department of Public Safety.

"Basically there's not a whole lot we need to do to prepare, because we have been prepared for the past month," Nigber said.

Huntsman said Texas Gov. Rick Perry told him recently that Texas already had "assimilated virtually an entire state" for Katrina evacuees, including enrolling 40,000 new students in its public education system. That means officials are going to have to look at alternatives — like Utah — should there be a need to place evacuees from the latest storm, he said.

"We're ready. We're willing. We can step up to the task, as I think we proved to the country in the aftermath of Katrina," Huntsman said.