Hurricane Laura is now a primary and has caused thousands of Texasers to leave the Gulf Coast. Many of them are now coming to North Texas.
MESQUITE, Texas – Some of the other people evacuated from the Gulf Coast before Hurricane Laura have traveled to North Texas seeking shelter.
Hurricane Laura is already a Category 3 typhoon with sustained winds of up to 115 mph and is expected to become a category four typhoon with a possible 15-foot typhoon surge before making landfall.
Buses with evacuees began arriving at the Mesquite Visitor Center on Interstate 20 around 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
The Mesquite facility was used as a shelter for Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Harvey. But this time because of the pandemic, it’s just a reception area. Evacuees are searched, obtained food and then sent to a hotel.
State officials have said the Mesquite is designed to accommodate other people entering state-ordered buses. They ask others to evacuate in their private cars to pass to others in Ennis, Austin and San Antonio.
More than a million Texasmen living in coastal communities have been ordered to leave their homes and businesses because of typhoon storm surge warnings.
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The state charges buses to take the evacuees to San Antonio, Austin and North Texas.
Each bus is limited to about 20 people more and is supplied with masks, disinfectant and non-public protective equipment.
Once evacuees arrive in Mesquite or the Ellis County Knights of Columbus Hall in Ennis, they are taken to Dallas and Tarrant counties.
Dallas County is prepared for about 500 people. Free COVID-19 tests must be performed but are not required to obtain shelter.
“While the network sees a desire to open a shelter, we will do so by sending PPE, and as soon as possible, we will also set up control groups there,” said Nim Kidd, head of The Texas Emergency Management Division. it’s not to lose our lives, our purpose is to evacuate and not rescue, and then a quick cleanup and recovery,” Kidd said.
The families of Beaumont and Port Arthur go en masse and drive for hours north to protect themselves at the DFWArray
“I know for a fact that Beaumont can’t hold the water at all,” said Ossie Smith, who is evacuating Beaumont. “The last time we were hit by a hurricane was disgusting, so I took my circle of relatives and got up from here.
Others learned after the long trip to Mesquite that they would have to wait for the village paintings to be located to have hotel rooms.
“We’re homeless here because it was obligatory,” said Lynette Conner, who is evacuating from Jasper. “We’re not just looking to go and go. It was a mandatory evacuation, so we had to come. And now we’re here, and we don’t have any kind of … we’re a little stuck.”
Many evacuees, such as Jack Long and his wife, ended up at the Ennis evacuation center after driving for the first time to Huntsville and Conroe to locate a shelter.
“He said the closest thing would be to Ennis, Texas, so we ended up coming here,” Long said. “Thank you Lord, we discover you all because things are going to be bad.”
RELATED: Hurricane Laura continues in Gulf of Mexico, can succeed with 150 mph winds
Many evacuees say they learned a lesson after crossing Hurricane Harvey and evacuating through the hurricane.
“I’m a victim of Harvey,” Sanders Tolk III said. “I got a house two weeks ago after Hurricane Harvey. I had done the maintenance and everything.
Instead, others to see what kind of shelter they might locate in North Texas and pray for those they still enjoy in the affected areas.
State officials said Hurricane Laura could leave Texas on Thursday night.
Officials in the city of Mesquite say they cannot settle for donations of any kind.
However, Ennis officials say they see a main need for fuel cards. Anyone who needs it can call your evacuation center’s hotline at (972) 695-3524.
RELATED: Officials: Laura may cause a wave of typhoon ‘unsurpassed’