The unpredictable nature of the hurricane, in conjunction with its arrival at popular tourist destinations on the Labor Day holiday weekend, severely complicated preparations along the Gulf Coast. Evacuations and the hoisting of weather advisories inadvertently occurred in stages to keep up with Elena's shifts in direction; hurricane warnings were in effect at one point or another for every coastal location between Morgan City, Louisiana, and Sarasota, Florida. Much of the northern Gulf Coast was under a hurricane warning on two separate occasions for two different trajectories of the storm. Evacuations of residents and vacationers also overlapped in many cases. Collectively, this led to the "largest number of people ever evacuated", according to Robert Case. Some evacuees moved inland to meet relatives, but many stayed relatively local, filling hotels and designated shelters such as schools and churches. Despite the unusually fluid scenario, officials were well aware of the storm's destructive power days before its actual landfall. National Hurricane Center hurricane expert Bob Sheets cautioned on August 30 that Elena "will be over a $1 billion storm".