Evacuation Nation

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Chase, Vincent, and Letricia from Texas City (photo by KXM)

They really had no intention of coming to Austin, but here they are. Vincent and a group of his family and friends from Texas City decided to hit the road after days of unclear advice from their area agencies and from foreboding rumors around town that many employers would not pay (or might even terminate) employees leaving town.

The family got to the fork in the road with the choice of either College Station or Austin, they decided to call 211. "At that point, we heard that College Station may be evacuated, too, so we decided to come to Austin," he said. Austin, he was told had plenty of shelter and the sign said 111 miles.

"The trip would normally take four hours or so. It took eight," said Belinda, Vincent's mom. They left late in the afternoon and did not arrive at the Delco Center in East Austin until well after midnight.

Before learning about Delco and the free shelter, the family had assumed they'd find a hotel along the way. They were not surprised to find few vacancies, but what did shock them was a motel, "just some little motel," according to Belinda, along 290 that had a rate of $79. Per person. "I can see $79, and that's even a lot for this place. But per person?" she said. The family was not unfamiliar with this. During Rita, they evacuated and remember places charging $10 for a bag of ice.

Of course, the loss of potential revenue due to storm is very real for small businesses between the Gulf Coast and I-10. But during these same disasters, evacuees are suffering lost wages and duplicating living expenses. The businesses are "making it up somewhere," said Belinda, "And they're going to make it up on us."

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Austin is hosting over 6,000 evacuees in 21 area shelters as of 11pm, according to Austin OEM.

According to a statement issued at 8pm by Otis J. Latin, Sr., Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for the City of Austin, "We are in full operation of our Capital Area Shelter Hub Plan. The City's Emergency Operations Center is fully staffed tonight with representatives from 60 agencies and departments from local governments, school districts, the American Red Cross, area hospitals, and several other volunteer groups."

The Shelter Hub Plan summed up: "The evacuation shelters will provide a clean, air-conditioned environment with food, clean restrooms, and in many cases, showers."

And in most cases, that's it.

Problem is, many of the folks along the coast did not get that memo. Many of these people made last minute decisions (or the decisions were made for them) as to when to leave and where to go, again, due to the info or misinfo given in their home turf. So families like Vincent's are scrambling to stretch dollars to gather necessary goods, while not knowing for how long they should prepare.

"We just spent $150 on air mattresses. That's $150 we don't have," said Leticia, who later expressed frustration after hearing rumors that their facility actually had cots but was not distributing them.

According to City of Austin spokesperson Reyne Telles, cots are not part of the Shelter Hub Plan, as accommodations for them "greatly affect the numbers of people you may house in a facility." Makes sense: fire codes, capacities, and all that. The plan right now is in affect for the short term. Should evacuees need further assistance, other contingencies come in to play, according to Telles.

It's safe to assume the city, and any current plan in effect, could not foresee the processing of over 6,000 evacuees in such a short period of time. This morning, the Red Cross press officer stated that there were 13 shelters "up and operating." By 11pm there were 21. Lines of people waiting to be processed into the facilities accumulated in great numbers at some shelters getting mixed messages on how and where to proceed, according to witnesses, while other facilities flowed smoothly.

Vincent tries to maintain a bright outlook. "I thank Austin for me and for all the people who got here safe. These people are really nice," he said.

"Some may complain, but at least we got a place to stay," said Belinda. "The food's not that great, but you can live off it. We appreciate what they're doing." At least those were her feelings during our first interview this morning. Confusion over the pet-friendliness of the facilities, combined with the lack of certain basic amenities however, has her feeling very differently this evening.