SAN ANTONIO (ABP) -- As Hurricane Rita bears down on the Texas coast, a shelter that housed victims of Hurricane Katrina has been emptied and reopened for evacuees of the new storm.

Churchill Baptist Church in San Antonio, which has housed Katrina victims for three weeks, was emptied Sept. 21 and reopened for Rita evacuees. Those who could not be moved into housing were transferred to other shelters.

FEMA requires that refugees from separate disasters must be housed in separate facilities.

Meanwhile, a new shelter has been opened at the Blossom Athletic Center Sept. 22. Baptist Child & Family Services and the Red Cross opened it as a shelter for special needs individuals and their families fleeing South Texas.

An estimated 325 people have found shelter in the facility with more cots being added.

"We are riding a tired horse," BCFS president Kevin Dinnin said. "Our staff has been working practically without a break since Sept. 2 and many volunteers have been right there beside us.  I can't say enough about how they have done such a great job at a difficult task -- and I hate that we now must ask them to keep reaching down deep and keep going. ..."

Hurricane Rita had sustained winds of 150 mph on the afternoon of Sept. 22. Most of the areas along the Texas coast have been evacuated, and evacuation warnings have been issued along the Louisiana coast.

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