LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Ten Hurricane Katrina evacuees arrived in Southern California Sunday from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and will be able to stay at the Los Angeles Dream Center for up to six months.

    The evacuees, the first of some 300 expected to be put up at the old Queen of Angels hospital, arrived on a private jet, a local television channel reported.

    "We were like living in Vietnam, a war zone," one woman told Fox11 channel. "I'm handicapped. I can't fight nobody. I'm sleeping in the dark with a hammer and a bat."

    Clint Carlton of the Dream Center, which has about 1,000 rooms, said that his organization agreed to house up to 300 evacuees in the 14-story former hospital for up to six months.

    Another flight is due to arrive Monday, he said.

    The evacuees said they had lost their homes and everything they own, but are grateful to have their lives, a roof over their heads, food, water and clothing.

    After getting situated, they said their first order of business would be to contact worried relatives.

    The Dream Center, a faith-based organization with affiliates inthe Gulf States, had offered help for evacuees from its Los Angeles affiliate and extended an invitation for them to stay at the center as long as they need.

    Meanwhile, American Medical Response on Sunday sent 30 ambulances and medical personnel from Southern California to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to aid hurricane relief efforts, the private ambulance company announced.

    The Greenwood Village, Colorado-based AMR, which has a regional office here, already has sent 100 ambulances and crews from around the United States to the Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

    The company sent the additional vehicles at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to AMR.

    "Currently, AMR is providing care and transport to victims of Hurricane Katrina in its service areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as in Houston, San Antonio, Arlington and Dallas, where many of the hurricane's victims have been sent,'' according to a company statement. Enditem