AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Hours after a supply of hotel rooms for evacuees from Hurricane Laura ran out, officials are making preparations to open the Austin Convention Center as a traditional shelter for additional evacuees.
Since Tuesday afternoon, approximately 3,000 evacuees from the Gulf Coast have been assisted through the Capital Area Shelter Hub Plan. Those individuals are being housed in more than 1,000 hotel rooms across the Austin area.
"We have been able to support the evacuation of all of the buses that came from the City of Galveston and we've also been able to provide shelter space for a majority of the people that came to Austin by themselves," said Juan Ortiz, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Austin.
With the supply of available hotel rooms exhausted, city and county officials are working with the Texas Department of Emergency Management and the American Red Cross to establish a traditional shelter in Halls 1 and 2 at the Convention Center. Officials hope to have the shelter ready to accept guests by early Thursday morning, about the same time Laura is forecast to make landfall along the Texas-Louisiana border.
Officials say the shelter will not affect the COVID-19 Alternate Care Site that is located in Hall 3, which remains on standby as a hospital overflow facility.
"We are going to ensure that if individuals need a face covering, we're going to provide that for them in order for them to maintain the utmost health and safety in this setting," said Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden. "Health and safety are of utmost importance."
The shelter will be following FEMA and CDC guidelines to maintain proper health protocols in a COVID-19 environment. The traditional shelter setting will provide a place for evacuees to sleep, get food and other basic amenities.
Circuit of The Americas remains open as a reception site and rest area for evacuees; however, evacuees are not guaranteed a room if they come there.
Evacuees in the Austin area can receive important updates from the City of Austin by texting the word "ATXShelter" to 888-777, or calling 512-978-1510.
