MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (AP) – More than 100 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina arrived in Rhode Island from New Orleans Friday evening.

They got off the plane one by one, carrying trash bags filled with belongings, many with their dogs. Some waved to the state officials, volunteers and well-wishers who gathered to greet them. One man started to cry as a Red Cross volunteer draped her arm over his shoulder and escorted him into a hangar at Quonset Airport.

They were fed, screened for medical problems, issued ID cards, then bused to Middletown to temporary homes in a Navy housing complex. Their new neighbors in Middletown came out to greet them, and cheered when they arrived.

Michael Sullivan, 26, arrived with his girlfriend, Dionne. The only thing he had with him was a bag of snacks. He said he left behind three brothers and an uncle.

“I ain’t worried. I know they’ll be OK,” he said. “The mosquitos were tearing us up. I couldn’t take it no more.”

Billy J. Williams, 56, had been staying just outside the French Quarter in the St. Peter House, the hotel where he was the maintenance supervisor. He was all alone, his wife and grandchildren having evacuated to Houston. He tried to stick it out as long as he could, but gave up after the heat and mosquitos became unbearable.

He went to the airport for help Friday, and hoped to go to Houston, but found out after he got on the plane that he was headed for Rhode Island, an unknown place even further from his family.

“Only thing I knew was the name on the map,” he said. Still, he said he was happy to be out of New Orleans.

Williams said he hoped to join his family next week, or see if they could join him here.

Clifford Monteiro, president of the Providence branch of the NAACP, who spoke with evacuees when they arrived, said some people were angry that they were not told earlier where they were headed.

“They did not know they were coming here. One or two people were really upset. There was a lot of warmth. There was some hostility,” he said.

Gov. Don Carcieri, who also greeted evacuees, said there was a strong sense of relief.

“They’re just hoping to have something better than what they came from, which they will,” he said.

David Gifford, the state’s health director, said none of the evacuees had life-threatening ailments, but two had serious infections and one had a broken leg. Four people were taken to the hospital, one to a nursing home and 52 others were treated for minor ailments at the medical screening center when they arrived, he said.

Gifford said several children were evaluated and appeared to be in good health.

While refugees in neighboring Massachusetts are staying in dormitory-style barracks at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod, those coming to Rhode Island will stay in apartments in vacant Navy housing next to Naval Station Newport. The apartments, which have kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, were built as homes for military families.

A family assistance center at the housing complex was established to help families adjust, Carcieri said. He said it was too soon to discuss schooling or job placement.

“We’ve got to get them settled so they’re feeling human again,” Carcieri said.

Volunteers worked all week to get the apartments ready with basics such as cots, sheets, towels and toiletries. Local businesses, including a furniture store, discount store, drugstore chain and luggage company, had also donated items, according to Angie Moncada, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross.

Gifford said he expected many of the evacuees had pre-existing medical conditions that had recently gone untreated, so the state was setting up an urgent care walk-in clinic in Middletown for hurricane victims.

“Some of these people with chronic diseases may be stable now, but they may get worse,” he said.

Carcieri said he expected the evacuees to be in Rhode Island for months, not weeks, and said it’s possible more could arrive later since the state has offered to take in up to 500 people. A second plane of evacuees expected to arrive Friday or Saturday was canceled.

Carcieri said the Red Cross in Rhode Island has processed 75 people who evacuated themselves and sought help.

Church leaders planned to raise money and supplies, such as beds to replace the cots at the housing complex. The Rev. John Holt, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, said the relief effort could also include an “adopt-a-family” program that will connect Rhode Island residents with victims of Hurricane Katrina.

More than 350 churches from 12 denominations belong to the council.

The Rev. Theresa Smith of Bethel AME Church in Providence, said she was at the airport to support and encourage the victims spiritually.

“They’re afraid. They’re scared,” she said. “They don’t know what to expect.”

AP-ES-09-10-05 0001EDT