Hurricane Gustav was the largest
sheltering operation the Red Cross has handled in Birmingham.

Red Cross spokesman Chris Osborne says the Birmingham chapter
covers six counties. During the Labor Day hurricane, the
organization ran 16 shelters that housed 4,698 evacuees. In the 10
shelters in Jefferson County, the peak registration was 3,905
evacuees.

Buses have returned the evacuees to their homes in Louisiana.
It's unclear if they will have to evacuate again, this time for
Hurricane Ike.

Birmingham officials expect the Federal Emergency Management
Agency will reimburse the city for the shelter expenses.

FEMA spokesman Jerry DeFelice says FEMA will reimburse
pre-approved shelters for all of their expenses. He says it's too
soon to know how big that bill will be.