HOUSTON (AP) -- After accepting more than 11,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees, officials said the Astrodome was full and began sending buses to other shelters in the Houston area Thursday night.
''We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the people inside there,'' American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said. She said people were ''packed pretty tight'' on the floor of the Astrodome.
Buses that continued to arrive were being sent on to other shelters in the area and as far away as Huntsville, about an hour north of Houston.
At least 20 buses were lined up in three different directions outside the Astrodome early Friday. Dozens of frustrated and angry people milled about outside. Some were handed bottles of cold water, their first in days.
''When we got here they said they had no place to put us because they're full. A man gave us this cold water, the first we've had since Sunday,'' said Patricia Profit, who stood outside one of the buses. ''Before we left New Orleans they said everybody will be in the Astrodome. Don't panic, don't worry, you'll still be with your family. That's what they told us. Now we can't be with our family.''
She said some of her relatives were inside the Astrodome.
''I understand people from Mississippi got here before we got here. Now we can't even get off the bus at all. This is ridiculous,'' said New Orleans resident Irving Gray.
''We're asking that people be patient. Ultimately they are going to be comfortable,'' Allen said.
Houston Police Sgt. Nathan McDuell said the city's fire marshal decided the Astrodome had ''reached full capacity and we needed to shut it off for all concerned.''
''I don't have total information on what went into the fire marshal's decision,'' McDuell said. ''It would be unfortunate if we were to bring these individuals from a desperate situation and create another desperate situation here.''
The total of 11,375 inside the Astrodome was less than half the estimated 23,000 people who were expected to arrive by bus from New Orleans in Houston.
Those refugees who arrived earlier, weary from days in the sweltering, miserable conditions at the Superdome, were happy to get a shower, a hot meal and a cool place to sleep.
Thirty deputies working on overtime provided security and searched refugees for weapons. A few people were arrested, although Sheriff Tommy Thomas didn't have an exact count. He said some men were arrested for going into the female showers. Others were arrested for fighting over cots.
''These bunks are going to be territorial. Somebody gets up and then somebody's going to take their bunk,'' Thomas said.
Police officers also have confiscated 30 guns, most of which have been voluntarily surrendered, McDuell said.
Doctors and nurses set up a clinic to help people with high blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems. Ambulances waited in the parking lots for those needing hospital care, said Dr. Herminia Polacio, a Harris County public health official.
''Many of them have been in situations in the Superdome where they have been under quite a bit of duress, such as several days without medication,'' she said.
Organizers spent the past two days setting up cots that covered the Astrodome's cement floor, which previously was its football field. They provided phones and a message board so refugees could contact loved ones, and gathered supplies such as bottled water, soap, toothbrushes and diapers.
Outside the Astrodome, trucks delivered sandwiches and paramedics assessed new arrivals for health problems under tents in a makeshift triage center.
Evacuees, most who hadn't bathed since the hurricane hit Monday, showered in one of four locker rooms once used by the Houston Astros and the Houston Oilers. The Houston Texans, the city's new football team, and the Houston Astros now play in new stadiums, one within walking distance of the aging Astrodome.
Audree Lee, 37, felt relief after getting a shower and hearing her teenage daughter's voice on the telephone for the first time since the storm. Lee had relatives take her daughter to Alabama so she would be safe.
''I just cried. She cried. We cried together,'' Lee said. ''She asked me about her dog. They wouldn't let me take her dog with me. ... I know the dog is gone now.''
As she was offered chips and an apple, Lee said the conditions Houston are far better than they were in New Orleans, but she can't wait to get back to her home state.
''I've never been through anything like this,'' she said. ''We have nothing to go home to. I just want to be safe and comfortable.''
Volunteer Daniel Rittgers said many of the refugees remain in shock.
''They are still in the moment of survival,'' he said. ''They have been displaced.''
Harris County Fire Marshal Mike Montgomery said shelter organizers will do all they can to help the refugees as they try to sort out what to do now that they've lost everything.
''We're trying to establish some sense of normalcy,'' Montgomery said. ''Our main concern is getting those people where they are comfortable. They are in a dry location. They are in a safe location, and we are attending to their needs.''
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
