FLORENCE - Florida evacuees swamped lodging accommodations in and around Florence on Friday in advance of approaching Hurricane Frances, so much so that the American Red Cross was prompted to open an evacuation shelter to help relieve the overflow.

The story is much the same up northbound Interstate 95 where a steady flow of evacuees have streamed out from the Sunshine State to find safe haven until the storm blows by.

“People have been coming in since 7 a.m. this morning to get a room,” said Melanie Miles, sales manager for the Comfort Inn at U.S. Highway 52 and Interstate 95. “We’ve been extremely busy even though it’s a shame that we have to have a boost to our business at their expense.”

She said there were few rooms left available by mid-afternoon Friday and expected there to be no vacancies by 6 p.m.

Mike Alexander, general manager for Hampton Inn and Suites on West Radio Drive, said the hotel was filling up for Friday evening and the weekend was looking booked as well when residents from Myrtle Beach to Savannah thought they would be targeted by Frances.

“We’ve been taking cancellations all day, and it’s almost empty for the weekend,” he said. “It’s a big difference from a normal race weekend.”

Business was brisk down the highway in Santee where, at 3 p.m., there were only 20 rooms left for the night at the Country Inn and Suites, the manager there said. But that’s still more than otherwise might have been available, she said, because of cancellations by vacationers from places like Hilton Head Island.

The only place seemingly not too affected by the exodus was the state welcome center in Santee. “We’re very slow because we’re in the southbound lane,” one welcome center official said. “But the northern lane is very busy.”

John Malone, executive director for the Pee Dee Chapter of the American Red Cross, said that the rapid rate at which accommodations were filling up made opening a shelter at Ebenezer Baptist Church in west Florence a necessity.

“We’re basically doing this for people evacuating out of Florida so they will have a place to stay,” he said.

The evacuation shelter was set up in the church’s gymnasium and opened at 3 p.m.

As of 5:30 p.m., no one had taken advantage of that offering, said shelter manager Charles High. “The hotels are full and we’ve opened this up for those who can’t find a place to go,” he said, adding that the shelter was a temporary measure that would close by 9 a.m. today. It’s capable of comfortably housing as many as 150 people overnight, if necessary.

High said the Ebenezer site was the only shelter ARC officials planned to open to accommodate Florida evacuees.