By Canadian Press

Heeding warnings, Gulf Coast residents flee coming hurricane

Aug 26, 2020 | 5:00 PM

ENNIS, Texas — Thousands of Gulf Coast residents fled inland from an approaching hurricane deemed “unsurvivable” by forecasters as hotels and shelters filled quickly, exacerbating the struggles of people who have already lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Leaders in Texas and Louisiana urged people living in the forecast path of Hurricane Laura to move inland before landfall. Forecasters predicted a life-threatening storm surge would pound a wide stretch of the coast.

Evacuees travelled as far as Ennis, Texas, a city south of Dallas several hours from the coast. James and Samantha Bison evacuated from Jasper, Texas about 200 miles (320 kilometres) away, and made their way to Ennis by early Tuesday after being directed there by a 211 information line. Hoping for a place to stay, they ended up sleeping in their car. When they called 211 again, an operator told them to drive to San Antonio, about 250 miles (400 kilometres) in another direction.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the state had 200,000 hotel rooms for evacuees. But Ennis city leaders said they had no space in hotels and no vouchers to give evacuees.

The Bisons had lost their jobs at a restaurant and lumber mill this year. Shalonda Joseph, a teacher who evacuated to Ennis from Port Arthur, Texas, with her sisters, said their family has burned through savings as some of them lost their jobs because of the virus.

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“The COVID-19 is just totally wiping us out,” said Joseph, 43.

Both families eventually drove further north to Richardson, a Dallas suburb, and waited to see if a hotel would give them rooms.

Hundreds of residents of 11 nursing homes in southwest Louisiana were evacuated, according to the state health department. Most of the facilities were in Calcasieu Parish, which is expected to receive a direct strike from the hurricane. Health department spokeswoman Aly Neel said a mix of buses and ambulances moved the residents to other facilities mainly in Louisiana, but also in Texas.

In the south Louisiana community of Delcambre, a steady stream of customers stopped for last-minute supplies at Shawn’s Cajun Meats and Grocery.

“Getting some snacks. Definitely getting some beer. I’m pretty sure that’s the highest-selling product around here,” said Austin Domingues, 26.

Domingues said he and his family had been prepping for the last three days for Laura. At his father’s nearby sugar cane farm, “we’ve been moving equipment on the highest ground we have.”

While Domingues said his wife likely would evacuate to Lafayette, further north and east of Delcambre, he and other members of his family planned to stay put. He said he expected to stay at his father’s farm, where the house is 14 feet (4 metres) off the ground.

“I don’t know if it’s too smart, but we’re going to stay just in case we need to help people out,” he said.

But Lexie Creighton, who was rounding up shopping carts outside the grocery store, said she planned to head to Lafayette after ending her shift, rather than ride out Laura. Her home took on water during Hurricane Rita, which ravaged the Gulf Coast just days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“Getting out of the surge, you know?” she said. “The water’s going to come up. It’s better safe than sorry.”

In Lake Charles, Louisiana, the National Guard picked up residents in school buses and took them to a local coliseum. Many of the evacuees were families with small children. The National Weather Service evacuated its office in Lake Charles, transferring its forecasting duties to the service’s office in Brownsville, Texas.

Leaders in both Texas and Louisiana urged residents to flee in the final hours before landfall made it too dangerous to travel.

Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said the city of Austin had run out of free hotel rooms, forcing officials to send evacuees further away from the coast.

Kidd said the convention centre in Austin might be opened to temporarily house evacuees while more hotel rooms are set up for residents. He said hotel rooms are being reserved for evacuees in some nearby counties.

Traci Shannon left Galveston for her parents’ home in north Houston on Tuesday with her husband, two teenagers, and six pets.

“It would be hard to find a hotel or shelter that accepts all the animals we have,” she said. “We could hide the rat and the gecko but my husband is a disabled vet and he has a comfort dog that’s about 45 pounds.”

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Deslatte reported from Delcambre, Louisiana. Associated Press journalists Juan A. Lozano in Houston and Desiree Mathurin in Bay Shore, New York, contributed to this report.

Jake Bleiberg And Melinda Deslatte, The Associated Press