HOUSTON -- While still days away from having an idea where Tropical Storm Gustav may be headed, officials with the Houston office of the American Red Cross were busy preparing, just in case.

“There will be advance teams that come in to assess the (sic) situation. How many people are needed? What we're doing right now as well is we are evaluating our volunteers (to see) who will be available (and) who will be in town,” said Red Cross spokesman Russ Hubbard.

Houston's huge energy sector was also preparing, holding conference calls to discuss what to do with rigs and workers out at sea. Officials at Devon Energy said they are watching Gustav closely.

“If it stalls or comes westward, certainly we can have some concerns there,” a company official said.