That's how just about every Brazos Valley county official described the coming days with Hurricane Ike expected to push tropical storm winds through the region starting late Friday.

Residents in Robertson and Leon counties are concerned about major flooding. Grimes, Madison, Milam and Washington counties expect thousands of weary motorists fleeing the coast and Houston to pass through on major highways and hope they have the gas and provisions to oblige the travelers.

None of the counties are designated by the state to open up a single shelter -- only Brazos County has that responsibility -- but most have planned to make some kind of accommodations. Previous storms have taught them that there will be a need.

Hotels aren't an option; every single room has been booked.

National Weather Service officials said Thursday that the entire Brazos Valley region most likely would experience heavy rain and high winds.

Meteorologist Chris McKinney said the effects would be similar across all Brazos Valley counties with heavy rain and winds of at least 35 miles per hour and up to 80.

"It still looks to be a pretty unpleasant day on Saturday for that area," he said.

Because the storm system is so large, tropical storm force winds could hit the area 200 miles before the center of the storm does. But it's fast-moving, he said, so there is a low risk of flooding. Areas east of the eye of the storm are at a greater risk of tornadoes, he said.

"Even though the area is pretty far inland, the wind speeds are going to be pretty high," McKinney said. "It's going to be very, very windy for quite a period of time."

Kolaches and traffic

Caldwell Mayor Bernard Rychlik said the county's most anticipated event of the year would not be canceled because of Hurricane Ike.

A scaled-down version of the annual Kolache Festival still is on for Saturday as planned, the festival chairman said while stuck in traffic as people clogged Texas 36 in anticipation of Hurricane Ike.

"There'll be kolaches in Caldwell come rain or shine," he said, adding that holding the festival despite the weather is a tribute to the "tenacity of the Czech heritage people."

Many events will be moved indoors Saturday, he said, but there still will be music, along, of course, with eating and baking contests.

Meanwhile, Burleson County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Prescott said 12 shelters would be on standby throughout the festival. The shelters can hold 600 and probably will open Sunday.

"We're already starting to see a large influx of people on the highways," Sheriff Dale Stroud said Thursday.

Grimes County Emergency Management Coordinator William Mullener said he expected around 30,000 evacuees to travel through Grimes County on their way north.

Area officials prepared six shelters to be on standby in case of an overflow of evacuees from Bryan-College Station.

Mullener also said he was warning residents to be prepared for a power outage that could last three days.

"We're prepared for the worst," he said. "We have every available deputy, [Department of Public Safety] trooper, game warden, constable -- you name it. We've got everybody on alert and ready to go."

As with Hurricane Rita, when more than 3,000 people sheltered in Milam County towns, Emergency Management Coordinator Susan Reinders said, they've already seen an influx of evacuees traveling north.

"We're not quite bumper to bumper yet, but we're getting there," Reinders said.

County officials have opened up shelters in Cameron and Rockdale and expected major power outages Saturday that could last several days. A Red Cross shelter will open Friday, although Reinders said the county had limited resources to care for special-needs patients.

"We're preparing for the worst-case scenarios," she said. "Our citizens aren't used to having power outages for more than an hour or 1 1/2 hours."

Potential to get worse

Leon County Commissioner Dean Player said the northernmost Brazos Valley county was preparing for 10 inches of rain over the weekend. That amount of water likely will displace residents living in low-lying areas or in trailers.

"We'll be providing shelter for them while the storm passes over," he said. At least four shelters were set to open by 6 p.m. Friday.

County officials have called every home in the county to provide up-to-date advisory information in case of high winds and heavy rains.

National Guard troops gathered Thursday in Madisonville to prepare to refuel emergency vehicles carrying special-needs patients along Interstate 45 from the Gulf Coast.

Fueling trucks brought in extra reserves of gasoline and diesel for the station Thursday, according to County Judge Arthur Henson. He said two shelters would open exclusively for Madison County residents Friday.

"At this point I'm not telling people to evacuate. I'm just telling them to make their own decisions about whether they want to stay in their homes or go to a local shelter," he said.

More than 300 people were housed in Robertson County shelters Thursday evening. Two gymnasiums in Calvert opened Thursday for local evacuees, and officials were working to open similar shelters in Franklin and Hearne. An added risk in Robertson County, Judge Jan Roe said, is that many low-lying areas most likely will flood during heavy rains.

Officials placed equipment and emergency personnel across the county Thursday to provide service to areas that could flood Saturday.

Roe said officials were encouraging all residents who live in "precarious structures" such as mobile homes, RVs or houses that may not be able to withstand heavy winds, to seek shelter. To find a shelter, Roe said, call the Sheriff's Department at 828-3299.

"We're fielding calls every hour from people looking for shelter," she said, adding that the sites are bare-bones. "We don't have beds. We don't have food. We don't have all of those shelter assets, but we can get them out of the storm if we need to."

Officials in Washington County began preparing for Ike on Monday, according to County Judge Dorothy Morgan.

"We're prepared as best as we can be prepared," she said. "We've got all emergency crews and everything lined up and ready to go."

Traffic along Texas 290 and Texas 36 increased significantly Thursday, prompting state transportation officials to open a cloverleaf on the west side of Brenham to two outgoing lanes. As of Thursday afternoon, two lanes could exit from Texas 290 and Texas 36 from Houston and Waco to Texas 290 toward Austin.

But Washington County is just a pass-through county and is not prepared to shelter anyone, Morgan said.

Officials cautioned residents without secure housing to stay with a neighbor or a family member if the hurricane hits.

"If things look like we might need to have a shelter for our own people, then it will be opened probably Friday afternoon," she said.

The county emergency operations center will be staffed around the clock starting Friday, and officials were bracing for power outages that could last through Monday.

"We're ready and hopefully it won't be as much as we think," she said.

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