Astrodome Full, More Shelters Open

Meanwhile, One Person Dies When An Evacuation Bus Overturns In La.

(AP)  The state of Texas is filling up with evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Already the state has 56 shelters open and continues looking for places to house the newly homeless.

There are only about 2,000 people left inside the Louisiana Superdome. Evacuations were halted early Saturday and the people left behind could be stuck at the Superdome until Sunday, according to the Texas Air National Guard.

Two more giant shelters were opened after the Astrodome filled to capacity. Houston Mayor Bill White says all conventions in the city are canceled in the weeks ahead, to allow an exhibition hall and convention center to hold evacuees.

Texas Governor Rick Perry says the state could wind up with as many as 200,000 storm survivors.

Elsewhere, officials from as far away as Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming and Michigan are agreeing to help. They're scouting out various facilities, including military barracks and empty shopping malls, to turn into shelters.

Ten buses from Washington are heading for New Orleans, to pick up 400 hurricane people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. City officials are hoping the buses will return by Labor Day, when the evacuees will be housed at the D.C. Armory.

After accepting more than 11,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees, officials said the Astrodome was full and more than 30 Red Cross shelters are now open as Texas welcomes Hurricane Katrina refugees from Louisiana. Officials in Houston estimated as many as 100,000 people who fled the hurricane were staying in area hotels.

Meanwhile, one hurricane evacuee died and many others were injured when a bus carrying them from the Superdome overturned and rolled across a highway median in Opelousas, La. At least 10 people were taken to hospitals, several critically injured, The Daily World of Opelousas reported on its Web site.

Some airlines are expected to announce they'll send planes to evacuate thousands of people stranded in New Orleans -- and have the government pay for the flights.

Buses were temporarily turned away from the Houston Astrodome because of safety and crowd concerns.

"By the time we got here it was all filled up. We have to find somewhere else to go," Sherri Jeannmarie told CBS News Correspondent Trish Regan.

Regan reports that nearly everyone in the Astrodome has a story of a loved one missing -- many of them children. Judie Brown was looking for her granddaughter but was heartened Friday by her luck in finding another grandchild.

Houston Mayor Bill White says, "We see the tragedy which is ongoing in New Orleans, and we are doing the best we can to make sure when people get to Houston they have a decent place to stay," White said.

Evacuees could be in Houston for months at a time, he said, and the city was devising a plan to help people over the long haul.

After opening large shelters in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio to accommodate 75,000 evacuees, Texas may tap places such as Austin and Temple to make room for more, said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry.

The state also looked at ways to move people into more permanent housing as thousands of Louisiana residents became temporary Texans or decided to move here for good.

"We don't know how to estimate how many of those people will continue to arrive," Walt said. "They don't have a home to go to right now. We're looking at moving them into housing that is more permanent in nature than a transitional shelter."

A day after Perry made a disaster declaration for Texas, President Bush on Friday declared an emergency in Texas. That means federal funding will be available to Texas and all 254 counties to assist with evacuation aid.

One option state officials are exploring for the long term is possibly moving thousands of evacuees into 7,200 vacant apartments identified east of Interstate 35, Walt said. If approved by the federal government, evacuees would be able to use vouchers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the apartments.

When the Astrodome filled, Katrina refugees who had finally arrived by bus were left in limbo for more than two hours before they were redirected to the exhibit hall.

The change only added to the frustration of victims like Patricia Profit, who had relatives already inside the stadium.

"Before we left New Orleans, they said everybody will be in the Astrodome," said Profit as she stood outside one of the buses. "'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."

The daylong stream of buses had been halted late Thursday.

"We've actually reached capacity for the safety and comfort of the people inside there," American Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen said shortly before midnight. She said people were "packed pretty tight" on the Astrodome floor.

Despite the crowding at the Astrodome, some more buses were being loaded Friday at the Superdome in New Orleans.