Photo by Eric Keith / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Red Cross Executive Director Kevin Kirby mobilized a shelter for 200 hurricane evacuees at the Civic Arena Sunday morning, only to receive a call that no one would be coming.

Sunday morning, 45 volunteers transformed the Civic Arena into an emergency shelter with beds and food for 200 evacuees from Hurricane Gustav. City and county planners met in the emergency operations center for a conference call with the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. That was when state officials announced that Louisiana officials canceled the airlift of 5,000 evacuees to seven Missouri cities.

“They changed their minds,” said Karla Long, the emergency services director for the Midland Empire chapter of the American Red Cross. “Nevertheless, it was an amazing feat, setting up in four hours. We know now the arena’s shelter capacity is about 200 individuals.”

Amongst the 45 volunteers was Paul Tiemann, a member of the Northwest Missouri Region H Hazardous Materials team. He brought two eager beavers with him, sons Dakota Tiemann, 9, and Andrew Tiemann, 8. The two boys worked at putting mattresses and bedding on some of the 200 cots on the main floor of the arena while their father and other men wrestled to erect the aluminium cots.

Inserting the last crossbar into the frame took a bit of concentration, muscle and sweat, said Dan Hausman, Buchanan County’s eastern district commissioner.

At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, George Albert and Bill Brinton met with representatives from Heartland Health, St. Joseph Transit, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Missouri Air National Guard, the Red Cross, the St. Joseph Police Department and arena staff. Everyone was moving forward, making sure supplies were available and all needed personnel were ready. Something changed in the intervening three hours, but Missouri wasn’t told what. The shelter will be left as is until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

By then Gustav will have hit land and the Red Cross will know if there is any need, said Mrs. Long.

Assuming Gustav doesn’t create any need, volunteers from the Red Cross, Buchanan County and the Missouri Air National Guard will dismantle the shelter. A Red Cross volunteer training class scheduled for Monday has been canceled.

Marshall White can be reached

at marshall@npgco.com.