SAN ANTONIO – The Alamo City has joined in with cities across the state to open up evacuation sites for gulf coast evacuees.
According to the San Antonio Fire Department, 1,458 evacuees have arrived at the city’s evacuation center since it opened at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. They are expecting even more today.
KSAT12 spoke with one of the evacuees from outside of the Houston area who says she is grateful for cities like San Antonio offering help.
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“It’s greatly needed,” Summer Young said. “We really need somewhere to stay. It’s people who haven’t gotten pay checks. Loads had to leave jobs. Who don’t have the funds. And I’m one of them and we need help.”
The site parking lot in the 200 block of Gembler Road was turned into an area where all displaced residents and evacuees could go before heading to the shelter locations.
The site is run by the San Antonio Office of Emergency Management. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said shelter will be available to evacuees in hotels across the city.
“We have shelter available mostly in hotels,” Nirenberg said. “There is a welcome area to assess people coming in to see if there’s any medical assistance needed.”
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A spokesperson for the San Antonio Fire Department originally said about 300 evacuees were expected to arrive.