10:37 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 14, 2005

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

The cots in a makeshift shelter will stay up a few more days, but the flights expected to bring in hundreds more Hurricane Katrina evacuees may never arrive.

State and local officials were notified Tuesday that evacuation flights planned into Kentucky and other states were suspended.

Kentucky had prepared to take in up to 500 more hurricane victims on top of thousands who arrived earlier from the storm-battered Gulf Coast.

"We took this step since our flights have been sparse and the planes have not been at capacity for several days," said Dave Garratt, a deputy director with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was coordinating the airlifts.

Any future flights would take people to shelters in Louisiana or bordering states, he said.

In Louisville, city officials and relief agencies had sprung into action since Labor Day in anticipation of the arrival of planeloads of evacuees. Until Tuesday's notification, the city had been preparing for the arrival of nearly 300 people expected Wednesday.

The American Red Cross set up hundreds of cots more than a week ago in the East Hall of the state fairgrounds. Those cots will stay up at least through Friday in case there's a large influx of hurricane victims, said Matt Kamer, a spokesman for Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

An assistance center that helps evacuees sign up for government assistance, seek housing and obtain driver's licenses will remain open at least through Friday at a civic center, he said.

A similar center set up at Centenary United Methodist Church in Lexington will also remain open, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Wednesday. Rick Curtis, administrative officer for the Lexington-Fayette County Department of Public Safety, told the newspaper some of the four shelters that had been set up in Lexington churches might dismantle and send their resources elsewhere.

Curtis said FEMA officials asked that cities find temporary housing that evacuees could use for at least a year and a half.

Hurricane victims who are in shelters elsewhere would then be given the chance to relocate to Kentucky, he told the newspaper.

Kamer said Louisville officials weren't going to "point fingers" at FEMA for keeping the community on alert for evacuation flights that now might never arrive.

But Kamer added, "There is some sense of frustration because of the tremendous outpouring of support that our community has put forth wanting to help."

A state emergency official saw some advantages for going through the preparations.

"I think it's a good training exercise," said Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management. "We benefit from that, all the agencies will. It just shows that we can respond when we're needed."

Statewide, about 4,000 evacuees have made their way to Kentucky, he said.

More than 2,000 victims ended up in the Louisville area. "We'll focus our attention and our energy to continue to help those people rebuild their lives in our community," Kamer said.

Children displaced by the hurricane have enrolled in local schools, he said. Rental property owners have offered rent-free housing or discounted rent for evacuees. A community job fair was planned Wednesday at The Gardens to give evacuees a chance to meet with dozens of employers.