Photo by Jim Epperson Crews saw a giant osage orange tree, or Bois d'arc that blocked Henderson Street in Bullard. The massive Bois d'arc was uprooted during Hurricane Ike. Earthae Sneed, 66, of Beaumont fell asleep in a hard chair in the Flint-Gresham Volunteer Fire Department. Her chin fell to her chest as a television showed the most amazing videos caught on tape.

Sneed is just one of millions who fled from the wrath of Hurricane Ike, and she is one of thousands who will stay in East Texas until authorities say it is safe for her to return. State officials said Monday there are still at least 37,000 evacuees housed in public shelters as of Monday.

"They are telling me we might not be able to leave for three weeks," she said after waking from a nap. "I just want to get back home."

She left the refrigerator and freezer full of food, and with Beaumont out of power she knows she will return to a mess. As cities like Beaumont and Galveston are still without essential services, people who fled the storms path are sitting in shelters for an unknown amount of time.

Photo by Jim Epperson Bullard's Brookshire's ran out of gas just before Hurricane Ike reached East Texas. The oil-stained concrete floor at the fire department looks cold. Small cots are placed in rows in the back of the fire station. The cots are comfortable, unless you have to use your backpack as a pillow, which some did.

But pillows had just arrived.

Steve McCraw, the state homeland security director, said there were at least 284 mass shelters in Texas; 19 shelters are in the Tyler area. He said there were more than 37,000 evacuees but he said that number "fluctuates from day to day." The number doesn't account for evacuees in shelters beyond the reach of the state's coordinated effort.

"A very major operational priority is taking care of them, including moving water, food (and) ice as quickly as we can into those areas," McCraw said.

Sneed said she was thankful the Flint-Gresham fire chief opened up his doors to the evacuees. She and her family would have to stay in one of the other 18 shelters in the Tyler area, which she said are overcrowded.

Sneed's daughter, Johanna, said someone took all the evacuees clothes at the shelter to be washed. She has no way to get money or her checks, because she does not have a permanent address. Without money for three weeks, she is not sure what she is going to do.

Johanna is getting medicine for anemia from the Red Cross.

Pat Shannon, spokesperson for Smith County Red Cross, said the Red Cross is providing shelter and food for the evacuees. Some of the shelters have nurses and medical kits, and the organization is providing medicines for things like iron pills.

"Money is a big thing," Shannon said. "We got some great partners with food banks, Meals on Wheels and the Salvation Army, but we need money."

Hurricane Gustav cost the nation $40 to 70 million nationwide. Shannon said he expects Ike to cost the nation more, especially since evacuees might be here longer.

"It's a pretty big chunk of change," he said.

Shirley Roth of Sargent, Texas evacuated to family in Tyler. Roth said her family is fortunate to evacuated from south of the Houston area in time because the canal in the ir neighborhood took a direct hit. Although she knows their house did not flood because it is on support poles., Roth said wind damage is in question.

"It's nice to have family to help us out," she said. "But it is unnerving not knowing what you are going to go back to."

Gov. Rick Perry on Monday was still warning residents not to return to the devastation in the hard-hit areas of southeast Texas. He said first responders and emergency workers are too busy to deal with returning evacuees.

"Do not come back into the impacted area until the officials ... have given that allclear," Perry said at a news conference in Orange. "Stay where you are."

Atari Polk, 27, of Beaumont, said it is hard to be away from her family. She is staying at the Flint-Gresham fire department.

"It's kind of hard being around strangers," she said. "I'm still getting used to it."

Her family is at another shelter in Lufkin.

"I just want to go home."