Austin, Travis County issue disaster declarations in response to Laura

Officials provide update on Austin-area response to Hurricane Laura

The City of Austin and Travis County have issued disaster declarations in response to Hurricane Laura.

AUSTIN, Texas - The City of Austin and Travis County have issued disaster declarations in response to Hurricane Laura.

Currently, hotel sheltering options provided by the Capital Area regional partnership have reached capacity. Evacuees are being encouraged to head to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Ellis County for additional funded sheltering options.

There may be hotels in the area available to evacuees who have the ability to pay for them, according to a press release from the City of Austin.

Austin-Travis County is also working to stand-up a non-hotel shelter option at the Convention Center for evacuees. Evacuees can call 211 or Austin 311 (512-974-2000) for assistance in identifying the next closest sheltering location.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Juan Ortiz, the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Austin, Eric Carter, the Chief Emergency Management Coordinator for Travis County, and Stephanie Hayden, the Austin Public Health Director will be holding a virtual press conference today around 5 p.m. to talk more about Austin's response to Hurricane Laura. FOX 7 Austin will carry the virtual press conference live on our website, news app, and Facebook page.

YOU CAN WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE HERE:

These are the locations evacuees seeking shelter should go to in North Texas:

Dallas-Fort Worth
Mesquite Reception Center 
15515 E. IH-20 Mesquite, TX 75181

Ellis County
Knights of Columbus Hall
850 S IH-45 Ennis, Texas 75119

Evacuees can receive important updates and information by text message while they are in the Austin area. Text the word “ATXShelter” to 888-777 to be signed up for updates or call 512-978-1510 for the same updates that would be received via text message.

For more information, visit www.AustinTexas.gov/Help.