"The people of Alabama never cease to amaze me," Governor Bob Riley said Monday.

That after visiting Lawson State Community College Monday, one of 72 shelters set up for evacuees from the Gulf Coast. The latest estimates are that 12,000 displaced residents from Alabama and Louisiana have come through the shelters.

Two-year colleges, like Wallace Community College in Dothan, were activated for the first time as shelters.

State EMA Director Brock Long says preliminary damage assessments will take place when water lowers, presumably early Tuesday.

"We are working with Mobile and Baldwin to determine the best time for re-entry," Long says. "So people can go back and inspect their homes and make sure their communities are alright. But it is still a dangerous area to be."

According to officials from Alabama Power, less than 6,000 customers out of 1.5 million have lost power in the state.

As of now, there have been no confirmed deaths in Alabama.