Even in Lawrence – some 800 miles north of where Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall – it will be a weekend of anxious waiting.

Christopher French, a barber at Amyx’s Class Act Barber Shop in downtown Lawrence, knows what he’ll be doing for the next several days.

“I’ll definitely be glued to CNN or Fox News all weekend,” French said.

French has his mother in Port Lavaca, Texas, and a sister and extended family members in Cameron, La. – both cities in the path of Hurricane Rita. The storm is projected to reach landfall late today or early Saturday.

“I’m quite concerned,” French said. “Cameron is only three feet above sea level to begin with. But they’re all practical people. I can assure you they are trying to get out of there.”

But even people without loved ones in the area are paying attention.

Paula Phillips, director of Douglas County Emergency Management, canceled a vacation to South Dakota in case state leaders call seeking communities to house volunteers.

And everybody from motorists to farmers have a stake in how hard the storm hits the Galveston area, one of the larger gasoline refining areas in the country and a major port for Midwest grain.

Christopher French, of Lawrence, watches updates about Hurricane Rita as he cuts the hair of Kyle Corhts, 22, at Amyx's Class Act Barber Shop in downtown Lawrence. French said he was concerned about several relatives who live in Texas and Louisiana. He said he would be watching news coverage of the hurricane all weekend.

Shelter site?

Phillips said it was too early to say whether Lawrence or any city in Kansas would be asked to house evacuees who have fled from Rita’s path.

“What I can tell you is that the state hasn’t called me yet, and I don’t know that they will,” Phillips said.

Lawrence went through extensive planning earlier this month when it was tapped as a possible shelter site for Katrina refugees. Kansas University officials had agreed to allow a portion of Robinson Gymnasium to be used as a shelter site. The state later notified the city that it wouldn’t be needed as a shelter location.

But Phillips said the planning would be very valuable if the city was called upon to help in the aftermath of Rita.

“I know who I would be calling,” Phillips said.

Fuel and farmers

Kyle McNorton, general manager of Topeka-based Capital City Oil, also will be keeping a close eye on the storm. Galveston is a major supplier of gasoline and oil to Kansas and surrounding states. Whereas the southeast and east were most at risk of gasoline shortages from Hurricane Katrina, McNorton said a disruption of production in Galveston could create gas shortages in our area.

But McNorton said he didn’t think gasoline shortages actually would develop.

“I don’t think there will be a problem for us, unless there is catastrophic damage,” McNorton said. “If refineries have to shut down for a full week even, that wouldn’t hurt us.”

Prices at the pump, though, will remain higher than they were before Rita.

“The damage on the fuel market already has been done,” McNorton said. “Prices started going up Monday when the projections were made that it would hit the Galveston area.”

The Galveston area has seven major gasoline refineries, making it one of the more critical gasoline producing regions in the country.

Galveston also serves as a major agricultural port. But Matthew Vajnar, a grain merchandiser at the Ottawa Co-op, which owns all three elevators in Lawrence, said the storm wasn’t likely to affect the ability of area farmers to move their fall crops to market. Corn harvest currently is under way here.

Vajnar said that 99 percent of all the corn and soybeans that the co-op purchased was sold to domestic markets and would not need to go through the Galveston port. But he said there was a significant amount of western Kansas wheat that would be scheduled to be shipped to Galveston.

Vajnar said that if railroad service to Galveston was cut off for an extended period, stopping that wheat from being delivered, it could create a problem for area farmers. That’s because there would be a shortage of grain railroad cars, if many were already loaded with wheat awaiting delivery.

“But we think it is likely there will be a minimal impact,” Vajnar said.