On the third anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other state officials find themselves preparing for another hurricane expected to impact the Lone Star State.
Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall late Wednesday near the Texas and Louisiana border, leading to a mandatory evacuation in Galveston and several voluntary evacuations across East Texas.
As the state prepares for the hurricane, Abbott couldn’t help but note the anniversary of Harvey, which led to widespread devastation across the state.
Watch beach cams in Galveston as Hurricane Laura approaches
“When Hurricane Harvey struck the state of Texas at that time, and for many days following that, Texas was battered. We were bruised, but we were not broken,” Abbott said.
While Laura will significantly damage buildings and infrastructure in East Texas, it is not expected to be as impactful as Harvey, Abbott said.
Abbott warned residents in the area of the water surge that’s expected and flash flooding that could occur. Because of that, he added 36 more counties to his disaster declaration.
Evacuation centers, including one in San Antonio, have been set up across to the state to take in refugees until the storm subsides.
San Antonio’s evacuation center opened at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Any displaced residents are asked to go to 200 Gembler Road to check in before receiving their shelter locations.
WATCH: Hurricane Laura evacuation site expects 50 people to arrive in San Antonio
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