Hundreds of area residents pack Red Cross shelters.

Some day when she's old enough to understand, Jazmionna Turner will listen to her mother's story about the ice storm of 2007.

How the ambulance drove through freezing rain. How the lights in the nursery went dim after the hospital switched to emergency power. And how the family couldn't keep a newborn baby in a house without heat.

"It was ice-cold in there," Lasayan Turner said Wednesday as she settled into a cot at a Red Cross shelter in Tulsa with her 4-day-old daughter.

"It's warm in here -- that's all that matters."

With more than 700 people seeking shelter from the Red Cross in Tulsa, two shelters remained completely full and a third one faced a steadily growing crowd.

Hundreds more were packed into shelters across northeastern Oklahoma, where the Red Cross provided more than 2,000 lunches and more than 3,000 dinners Wednesday at 22 separate shelters, from Pryor to Miami.

"It's true what they say, that 'Sometimes the worst events will bring out the best in people,' " said Teil Blackshare, the managing director of ministries at Asbury United Methodist Church, where an American Red Cross shelter accommodated more than 400 people Wednesday.

"We have people walking in off the street to volunteer, even though they don't have power themselves and they have their own problems to deal with -- they still want to help

Sunday-school rooms turned into dormitories. Row upon row of cots filled the church gymnasium and spilled into the hallway. One woman tucked a sleeping bag under a staircase in the church's vestibule. A man slept on the floor next to a Christmas tree, its lights twinkling.

"It's better to be bored than cold," said Stephanie Walker, who spent Wednesday afternoon sitting on a couch in the corner of the gym, where her two small children squirmed restlessly on their cots.

"I'm just grateful that we had somewhere to go."

Walker's apartment complex isn't likely to have power again until next week. Even then, she may not be able to move back in if the hole in the roof hasn't been fixed.

"I have no idea when we'll be able to go back -- no idea. There's no end to this in sight," she said.

Officials won't even speculate how long the shelters may need to remain open. The Red Cross plans to bring fresh volunteers from out of state Friday to relieve workers who have been on duty virtually nonstop since Sunday.

"People are getting a little tired," said the Rev. Tom Harrison, Asbury's senior pastor. "But we're going to be here for as long as we need to be."

Area shelters

The American Red Cross operated or supplied 22 shelters Wednesday across northeastern Oklahoma.

Tulsa:
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 8730 E. Skelly Drive.
First Baptist Church, Fourth Street and Detroit Avenue.
Asbury United Methodist Church, 6767 S. Mingo Road.

Bixby:
New Beginnings Church, 4104 E. 151st St.

Bristow:
First Baptist Church, 266 E. Sixth Ave.

Broken Arrow:
Arrow Heights Baptist Church, 3201 S. Elm Place.

Catoosa:
Rolling Hills Community Center, 20 S. 200 E. Ave.

Claremore:
First United Methodist Church, 1615 N. Highway 88.

Collinsville:
First Baptist Church, 1301 W. Main St.

Commerce:
Southeast Baptist Church, 103 E. B St.

Coweta:
First Assembly of God, 29707 East State Highway 51.

Drumright:
First Baptist Church, 229 S. Ohio Ave.

Jennings:
First Baptist Church, 500 N. Main St.

Ketchum:
Methodist Church, 206 Amarillo Drive.

Mannford:
Community Activity Center, 100 Cimarron Ave.

Miami:
First Assembly of God, 1815 Steve Owens Blvd.

Oilton:
Free Will Baptist Church, 2 miles west of Paden.

Owasso:
First Christian Church, 86th Street North and 122nd East Avenue.

Picher:
100 Deville Creek

Pryor:
Community Center, 6 N. Adair Ave.

Sapulpa:
Church of God, 1011 E. Hastain Ave.
First Presbyterian Church, 111 S. Oak St.

Michael Overall 581-8383
michael.overall@tulsaworld.com