With Hurricane Laura bearing down on the Texas Gulf Coast Governor Greg Abbott and The State’s Department of Emergency Management have had to work double-time to deal with hurricane preparedness and the pandemic simultaneously.
In his Tuesday press conference, Abbott reminded Texans of the gravity of this situation. “We are responding to hurricane Laura while also responding to a pandemic,” said Abbott. “And we are not taking our eye off of what needs to be done to adequately respond to the pandemic.”
To back this up, Abbott went on to explain some of the changes in hurricane preparedness brought about by COVID-19. Starting with evacuations, Abbott spoke of how the State is handling Hurricane Laura differently. “They are reducing the number of people in a bus. It's not going to be as crowded as it has been in the past, which is one reason why we have the need for so many buses to be able to transport people, but also make multiple trips, so that through a reduction in the number of people in the bus, we will be able to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19.”
The Buses are also outfitted with PPE’s, sanitizer and disinfecting equipment to keep them clean between trips.
The state has also set up large evacuation centers in San Antonio, Austin and two in the DFW area in which evacuees will have to socially distance. In addition to that, Texas Department of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd explained how shelter life will be different as well. “For shelter locations that do get set up in congregate settings, we will be offering testing at those facilities in addition to PPE.”