SCARBOROUGH – Dozens of volunteers from around Maine gathered at Scarborough High School Saturday to practice for a big “What-if?” What if a large-scale natural disaster hit the region, causing a mass evacuation of hundreds of people?

Given the downpours and flooding that hit the region Saturday, it wasn’t hard to imagine. The Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency coordinated the 13 local agencies participating in the drill, called a “full-scale regional sheltering exercise,” with Scarborough High School serving as the “ark.”

Cots were assembled in the gym. A medical evaluation area was set up in a hallway. Cats, dogs, even a bird, were given refuge on the lower floor. And volunteers came with books, games and iPads to pass the time while playing the role of displaced disaster victims.

Red Cross volunteers Hameid Altaee, left, and Tom McMillan assemble cots in the main gymnasium at Scarborough High School during Saturday’s regional disaster drill organized by the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency. In all, 13 local public safety agencies participated in the drill.