More than 600 evacuees from New Orleans are living in Phoenix and searching for jobs, and another 300 were expected to arrive this weekend, but Graham County likely won't house any of them.

Residents in states across the nation are preparing for an influx of displaced families and individuals who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina.

While not all evacuees require housing, 235,000 citizens of Louisiana, Missis-sippi and Florida are residing in 750 temporary shelters in 17 states, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security. Graham County officials confirmed that the Pioneer Lodge in Thatcher offered its facilities to evacuees through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which oversees emergency recovery efforts, but evacuees will probably stay in Maricopa and Pima counties.

FEMA reports that a variety of facilities in a wide range of locations are being brought to the task. State parks, military bases and even cruise ships are on the list of options for shelters.

According to a FEMA news release, more than 1 million people were forced to flee their homes because of the Aug. 29 storm.

FEMA has contracted with some of the nation's corporations to speed emergency housing relief including the United States Department of Housing and Urban Develop-ment, the Army Corps of Engineers and the American Red Cross.

Their primary goal is to secure emergency housing for all displaced disaster victims. FEMA will also develop plans for longer-term solutions to address housing needs in the wake of the storm, which affected 90,000 square miles.

FEMA Director Michael D. Brown said Sept. 3 that his agency is prepared to "move heaven and earth to rescue, feed, shelter and restore life and health to the people currently suffering," according to the FEMA news release.

FEMA is putting together an assistance program that provides $2,000 per household for expenses such as food, clothing, housing and transportation.

The agency will also provide the benefit on bank debit cards for people who have no access to their own bank accounts.

A second group of evacuees, known as self-evacuees, are those who were able to leave the Gulf Coast on their own, and they are coming to Arizona by the hundreds. Because authorities have no way of tracking people who have solved their own shelter problems, they may arrive in Graham County.

Some county families have already agreed to adopt or take care of evacuees and pay out of their own pockets.

Others are housing relatives or friends affected by the storm.

Area programs sponsoring collection or relief efforts include:

€ The City of Safford's final jam session on Oct. 15 at the Graham County Fairgrounds Agriculture Building will be dedicated to Hurricane Kat-rina relief efforts and will be an all day event. Local bands from around the area will play and Drew & Crew Motor-sports will raffle off an ATV.

€ The Church at Safford is spearheading Operation Bless-ing and will collect temporary bedding materials. Items they are asking for include blankets, pillows, folding beds and sheets. They ask that all materials donated be new or nearly new.

Drop off points are the Church at Safford on Highway 191 Monday through Thurs-days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and at The Stir on Main Street.

Contact Alysa Phillips at 428-2560 (ext. 234) or e-mail her at alysa@eacourier.com.