WWL-TV

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Louisiana's four state-run hurricane shelters will be redesigned to provide more personal space for evacuees, offer more bathrooms and reverse the complaints about shelter conditions during Hurricane Gustav.

The changes outlined Thursday by the Department of Social Services will shrink the number of people who can fit into the four shelters from 8,000 to 6,500. If possible, one shelter in Shreveport won't be opened at all for the rest of this hurricane season because of the remodeling it needs, said Kristy Nichols, interim DSS secretary.

"Citizens must have confidence in the system that they will be protected from harm, have appropriate shelter and supportive services and be provided the opportunity to return to their homes as quickly as possible. We believe this short-term plan is a first step in building that confidence," Nichols said.

Gustav evacuees who arrived at the four north Louisiana shelters found no showers. Portable showers arrived three days after shelters opened, and the shelters lacked adequate bathroom facilities. The social services department, which oversees sheltering, received heavy criticism for the shortages, and the problems contributed to the resignation of the department secretary.

Nichols pledged to revamp the shelters, and the plan submitted Thursday to Mark Cooper, the governor's emergency preparedness director, was designed to address short-term changes to be made for the final month and a half of this hurricane season.

The changes will give evacuees more sleeping space, more recreational space for children and more special needs assistance, Nichols said. In addition, behavioral health counselors and health care providers will be on site at each shelter, but security wands still will be used to check individuals entering the shelters, she said.

Each shelter will be stocked with three days of food and water, and extra supplies will be warehoused. TVs and radios will be available for evacuees to monitor the weather reports, and DSS is working to install phone banks in each shelter as well, Nichols said.

The department's changes are modifications of the types of standards used by the American Red Cross for its shelters.

"With a month and a half left in hurricane season, we hope that we will not have to implement this short-term plan, but if Louisiana is threatened by an approaching storm we will be ready," Nichols said.

Nichols said she'll hold a summit Oct. 27 in Shreveport to start work on adjustments to sheltering plans for future hurricane seasons.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)