PATH: Houston is not yet clear as coast gets ready
Around 330,000 Southeast Texas residents have been told to evacuate Tuesday as part of the region’s first mandatory pre-hurricane evacuations in more than a decade.
The mandatory evacuation order, effective 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, comes as the Houston area braces for the impacts of Tropical Storm Laura. The storm late Monday was slugging its way past Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico, where it was projected to strengthen into at least a Category 2 hurricane. Throughout the day, forecasters grew increasingly certain that it would make landfall around the Texas-Louisiana border.
All residents of Orange and Jefferson counties were ordered to leave their homes, while Houston-area leaders urged residents in coastal areas to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
The mayor of Port Arthur ordered a mandatory evacuation for the 50,000 residents of that city. Galveston officials urged residents to vacate vulnerable areas of the barrier island.
Laura churned off the western tip of Cuba on Monday night and is expected to intensify Tuesday before coming ashore in Texas and Louisiana late Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds, according to the the National Weather Service.
The agency could not rule out a Category 3 storm and on Monday afternoon issued a hurricane watch from Port Bolivar to Morgan City, La.
On its current track, the worst
of the storm would pass east of Houston, but officials warned even a slight change in direction could place the nation’s fourthlargest city in Laura’s path.
“A difference of 50 miles for a storm that traveled 2,000 is not that big of a job, and that would make all the difference in the world to us here,” Galveston County Judge Mark Henry said.
President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration requested by Gov. Greg Abbott, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance and reimbursement for evacuations, shelters and more. Abbott also activated 70 members of the Texas National Guard to assist.
The greatest threats Laura poses are high winds and a storm surge of 7 to 11 feet, NWS meteorologist Dan Reilly said.
Officials assured the public the storm bears little resemblance to Hurricane Harvey, the sluggish superstorm that dumped more than 50 inches of rain on parts of the region three years ago this week.
“We do not expect this storm to stall,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “From all indications it will come through.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said residents should prepare hurricane kits and check which evacuation zone they live in. Hidalgo said residents in coastal areas should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, as any evacuation order likely would come sometime Tuesday.
Complicating matters is the coronavirus pandemic in the state, which peaked in July and has killed more than 11,000 Texans. The virus continues to spread uncontrollably, and Harris County remains at its highest threat level, which calls for residents to stay home if possible, telecommute to work and avoid unnecessary contact with others.
“Here we go again,” said Hidalgo, whose brief tenure already has included a series of chemical fires, Tropical Storm Imelda and an outbreak of contagious disease. “This has been a tough year for us.”
The county judge said crews are on standby to clean up debris and investigators are prepared to monitor potential industrial pollution during the storm.
In Galveston, residents hastened
preparations for the storm. Hurricane Ike pounded the island in 2008. Laura is following a similar path, traversing the Gulf east to west from Cuba.
The Galveston Island Beach Patrol removed lifeguard towers and trash cans from the city’s beaches. Chief Peter Davis issued a red flag warning Monday afternoon — which urges children and poor swimmers to stay out of the water — as wave heights increased. He expected to leave the warnings up through the weekend.
“We want to plan for the worstcase scenario,” Davis, 38, said of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane. “We’ve got it down. But it’s always dangerous and it’s always scary because you can’t really predict these storms with any certainty.”
Miles Delgado and his twin brothers, Sam and Max, hosed down their 42-foot boat Twisted Sisters, which they planned to take out of the Galveston Yacht Basin and store on the mainland. He canceled trips for the charter fishing business the trio works for through the rest of the week.
“I have a feeling this isn’t going to be that bad,” said Delgado, a 25year-old Houston resident, before noting Harvey initially was not devastating. “We’ll just see.”
Hidalgo said an evacuation order most likely would apply only to residents near the coast. More than 100 people died during a disastrous evacuation of about 2.5 million Houston-area residents as Hurricane Rita approached in 2005. That storm ultimately turned east and missed the city.
Evacuation is not an option for some residents, however, such as those who own livestock.
In Silsbee, north of Beaumont and in the current path of the storm, Tatika Leckelt said she had no way to transport the 20 goats her family relies on for income. She said she is most worried about high winds.
“We will stay here and ride it out, that way if a tree comes down and they happen to get out or whatever, I’ll be able to get a handle on it and recoup all of them,” Leckelt said.
Before Tropical Storm Marco made landfall Monday, two named storms were swirling toward the Gulf Coast, the first time that has happened since 1933.
Marco made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, leaving Texas mostly untouched. It was downgraded to a tropical depression by Monday night.