NATCHEZ &045; The American Red Cross announced that two regional service centers in Monticello and Mobile, Ala., would be giving assistance to people from affected areas.

Unlike most assistance centers &045; including the regional center in Jackson &045; these will be providing aid on a first-come, first-served basis.

&uot;The idea is to see a much higher volume of people so people don’t have to make appointments and wait so long to get service,&uot; Red Cross Public Affairs administrator Patrick Fitzsimmons said from the Montgomery office.

The move takes some of the strain off of local chapters that are trying to meet the needs of local residents affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

&uot;We have an obligation to our local community and the people who are qualified to get help will get it,&uot; Adams County Chapter Executive Director John Goodrich said.

The chapter has filled all of its appointments and will not schedule any more until early next week, he said.

When they do, they would be looking to serve only residents of Adams and Jefferson counties &045; both of which were removed from the latest Red Cross zip code list &045; under strict parameters.

&uot;If you are an Adams County or Jefferson County resident, unless you have significant structural damage, financial assistance is not available,&uot; he said.

Significant damage was described in an earlier release as severe enough to &uot;require finding shelter elsewhere.&uot; Homes with minor damage or losses suffered due to electrical failure &045; including perished food &045; are not eligible for assistance.

All damage claims must be proven before assistance will be given.

Goodrich estimated the number of people in the two counties who qualify at less than fifty.

Most of the calls for appointments have been coming from McComb, Alexandria and New Orleans, telling Goodrich the demand from local evacuees has been met.

The Jackson center, located at Smith-Wills Stadium, has appointments scheduled through the third week of October and is not issuing any new ones. When they have processed all of the applicants with appointments,

&uot;Šat that point we would reassess the situation,&uot; Public Affairs administrator Donna Morrissey said from Jackson.

The service center in Centreville is processing approximately 500 applicants a day through their ticket-based system.

Goodrich said more than 16,000 appointments have been made by the center, taking it into November.

The Red Cross is working on plans to open more regional service centers, Fitzsimmons said, but he would not comment until the plans were final.

In other Red Cross news:

#The Red Cross has begun consolidating its shelters for the second time. By Saturday, Goodrich said, only Steckler Multipurpose Center and Parkway Baptist Church will be open.

&uot;We are closing the shelters in the same order in which they were opened,&uot; he said.

Assumption Catholic Church will be used to house staff.

#The Red Cross said in a press release that it is not soliciting assistance forms door-to-door. No one should give personal financial information to anyone offering this service.