(September 10, 2008)—The first busloads of evacuees from two coastal counties were en route to Central Texas Wednesday afternoon.
Under the state’s evacuation shelter plan, McLennan County is the designated shelter county for residents of San Patricio County and Bell County is the designated shelter county for residents of Brazoria County.
The Waco-McLennan County Office of Emergency Management set up a reception center Wednesday at the Church of the Open Door at 900 North Loop 340 in Bellmead, where the first bus carrying evacuees is expected to arrive around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Once needs have been assessed, the evacuees will be directed to shelters in the area.
Waco and McLennan County are prepared to house as many as a thousand evacuees, but as of early Wednesday evening, only 50 residents had left San Patricio County, City of Waco spokesman Larry Holze said, and none had been registered at the reception center.
Shelters will be opened to accommodate those who do evacuate, but those looking for hotel and motel rooms may find them in short supply.
Many hotels and motels were already close to capacity from Friday though Sunday because of the Baylor-Washington State football game Saturday and other weekend events.
A phone-check of major Waco-area motels and hotels late Wednesday morning showed most were booked up for the weekend.
Evacuees from Brazoria County were expected to arrive at the Bell County Expo Center Wednesday, as well.
Authorities have lined up nearly 1,000 buses in case they're needed to help move many poor and elderly people who don't have vehicles.
The Department of Public Safety in Corpus Christi says an evacuation lane is open along the shoulder of northbound Interstate 37.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is prepared to shelter up to 20,000 evacuees, using the Dallas convention center as the main site.
Ike was a Category 1 Hurricane early Wednesday, but reached Category 2 strength later in the day as it moved slowly over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday and could begin to produce severe weather in Central Texas by Saturday evening.
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