The American Red Cross announced Monday the evacuee shelter located in Shaver Gym will be closed by 5 p.m. on Monday, in accordance with President Bush’s mid-October deadline of emptying all evacuee shelters.John Webb, American Red Cross shelter manager at Nicholls, made the announcement to the evacuees at a “town hall”-style meeting.

“After the announcement, everyone got to voice their opinion,” Sgt. Christopher Wallace said. “We understood their complaints, but they also understood that we had to get out.”

Wallace said although resources are limited, no evacuee will be left without a place to go.

“We care about these people,” John Webb, American Red Cross shelter manager, said. “We are going to be here with them. I am not leaving until Tuesday morning.”

Webb said Tuesday that the 139 evacuees in the shelter will be relocated by the Monday deadline.

“The Red Cross, the community and the University got together and decided on what they believe to be the best possible date,” Webb said. “I will be down to zero by 5 o’clock, one way or the other. If there is anyone left they will be relocated to another shelter.”

According to the American Red Cross, every evacuee will be interviewed to determine his or her housing, financial, transportation and employment needs.

“We are working with these people to solve the problems in those areas,” Webb said.

Webb, who has already closed down several other shelters, said his goal is to conduct the process humanely and with the evacuees’ involvement.

The American Red Cross is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to find housing for evacuees who will not be able to be placed with friends and relatives.

“After being in a shelter for long, you can get kind of irritated,” Wallace said.

University Police have seen a sharp increase in the number of reported disturbances in the last few weeks.

“Tensions are growing, and people’s tolerance levels are starting to shorten,” Craig Jaccuzzo, director of University Police, said.

Jaccuzzo said problems are also arising from evacuees returning to the shelters drunk.

“If they are intoxicated to a level that they are creating a disturbance, we confiscate their alcohol,” Jaccuzzo said. “We hold them to the same level of accountability we would anyone else. They can be arrested for disturbing the peace by intoxication.”

Jaccuzzo said there have been six arrests since the shelter opened and all were alcohol related.

Mike Davis, assistant vice president for administration, said the University has already contracted a cleaning crew to thoroughly sanitize the entire building. After the gym is cleaned, the floor will be assessed for damages.

“We know that it is damaged,” Davis said. “We just do not know to what extent it is damaged, and we will not know until all the evacuees leave.”

Davis said he hopes to have a contractor in the gym as early as Tuesday morning but cannot say when repairs will be completed.

If repairs cannot be completed by the men’s basketball’s home opener against North Texas on Dec. 10, the University is considering the options of putting a cover on the floor or just making temporary repairs for now.

“Ultimately, we are pushing to get a new floor because this one has been abused,” Davis said.

Repairs will be included in the University’s claim to FEMA.