PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Lyndon Guidry wasn't taking any chances this time around, not after what Hurricane Katrina did to his house in New Orleans three years ago.

Like so many others in the predicted path of Hurricane Gustav, Guidry hit the road -- just a few months after he was able to return to his home.

He and his extended family of about 25, including a brother, nieces and nephews, loaded up seven cars on Saturday and headed east to Pensacola, praying they'd be able to return soon. The storm is predicted to make landfall Monday, most likely on the Louisiana coast. It appeared Florida would avoid a direct hit.

"We're nervous but we just have to keep trusting in God that we don't get the water again. We just have to put our faith in God," Guidry said Sunday from his hotel room.

Evacuees from Mississippi and Louisiana were flowing steadily over the border into the Florida Panhandle, where hotels and rest stops were filling quickly Sunday. Florida opened six shelters for out-of-state evacuees Sunday, and Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency that would allow Florida to give assistance to its neighboring states.

At the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Panama City Beach there were only two rooms left by midday - out of 341 total rooms. Debbie Woodham, manager at the Holiday Terrace Motel down the street, said it's starting to look like the days before and after Hurricane Katrina hit.

"Everyone who came for Katrina is coming back again," Woodham said.

Guidry's home was flooded with about 8 feet of water after Katrina hit New Orleans. He and his family had been living in a FEMA trailer until just a few months ago.

"Three years ago almost the same time, just can't believe it," Guidry, 45, said with a sigh, speaking of Katrina that slammed ashore in 2005.

"We just got back into our home and had to pack up and leave," he said. "We're all real nervous. We're just hoping it doesn't destroy our place again so we can go back soon. Everybody just wants to be back home."

Forecasters said Gustav was likely to grow stronger as it marched toward the coast with top sustained winds of around 115 mph. At 8 p.m. EDT Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Gustav was a Category 3 storm centered about 175 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving northwest near 17 mph.

A hurricane warning was in effect for more than 500 miles of the Gulf Coast from High Island, Texas, to the Alabama-Florida state line.

Kathy DiMaggio, 56, of Metairie, La., outside New Orleans on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, left home Saturday for Pensacola.

Her home was destroyed during Katrina and was completely rebuilt in 2006.

"It's just a nightmare to be going through this again. We just did this three years ago, and many of us are just getting back into our homes," DiMaggio said Sunday. "I just cannot believe this is happening again."

A rest area across the Alabama border off Interstate 10, just west of Pensacola, looked like a way station for refugees on Sunday evening. The parking lot was full of cars with license plates from Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi.

Dozens gathered around a bank of televisions inside the visitor center watching for updates on Gustav's path, sipping free Florida orange juice from tiny paper cups.

People walked their dogs and stretched their legs in the parking lot. Some napped in their cars, while others filled their gas tanks from 5-gallon cans, readying for a drive further east, hoping to get out of Gustav's way.

Workers set portable toilets in front of the building to handle the thousands stopping by for a break.

Harold Albury, 76, and his wife, Barbara, of Covington, La., outside New Orleans, sat inside taking a rest before heading further east to Panama City Beach after eight hours on the road.

"We weren't taking any chances," Harold Albury said.

He said the couple rode out Katrina in their home, and didn't have power for days.

"We didn't relish the idea of doing that again," he said.

Perry Guidry, 50, of Lockport, La., said he was prepared to ride out Gustav, until he heard about the storm surge and the potential for massive flooding.

"I wasn't afraid of the wind or tornadoes," Guidry said. "I had a generator, but generators don't work under water."

Asked where he was heading, he simply shook his head and said, "I don't know. I hear there's a good casino up the road."