by Christina Mitchell, Courier-Post Staff

Area storm shelters are up and running in South Jersey, but so far few people have voluntarily taken refuge.

"At this point, we haven't seen a lot of shelter activity," said Cami Trinidad, executive director of the Red Cross of Camden and Burlington counties. "It's kind of a Catch-22. "People want to leave their houses but they don't want to go to a shelter. Otherwise, they're hunkering down."

Camden City had eight shelters up and running Monday, but with no more than 10 people seeking refuge by 1 p.m., according to Robert Corrales, spokesman for Mayor Dana Redd. A county shelter set up at noon Monday at the Blackwood campus of Camden County College had yet to see evacuees at 1 p.m.

Eleven women were involuntarily evacuated from the Home for Aged Women in Burlington City as a precautionary measure, and concerns about later potential flooding, according to Burlington Township spokesman Ralph Shrom. Nine of them were taken to a county shelter at the Fountain of Life Church in Florence Township. Two went to other non-shelter locations.

Burlington County shelters at Chairville Elementary School in Medford and Palmyra Community Center had fewer than 10 people between them. A family that included husband, wife dog and cat took shelter at the elementary school, according to Medford police.

The Palmyra shelter saw one woman who requested shelter and arrived as an ambulance passenger, but her situation was not life-threatening.

There are about 10 people at the Gloucester County shelter at West Deptford High School on Crown Point Rd.