Tyler

The City of Tyler is actively preparing for the possibility of receiving evacuees from Hurricane Ike, City Manager Designate Mark McDaniel reported today.

“We are in the process of preparing ourselves to receive evacuees from Beaumont once again, should an evacuation order be issued,” McDaniel said in a prepared statement. “Our community and our Emergency Management Team stand ready to respond.”

Emergency management personnel have been contacting the 21 local organizations that served as shelters for the 3,300 evacuees from Hurricane Gustav to determine their ability to stand up once again. There are some shelters that were utilized during Gustav that will not be available, so new locations must be identified.

Tyler is the designated location for special needs evacuees from Beaumont. It is estimated that this number could be as high as 6,000 estimated evacuees. During Hurricane Gustav, Tyler received 3,300 evacuees that were housed in shelters and an additional 2,000 self-evacuees who stayed in local hotels.

Information from the State indicates that medical special needs evacuees could start arriving in Tyler as early as Wednesday night. This is approximately 36 hours prior to the anticipated impact time of the hurricane.

Should the evacuation be called, a reception center will be established at Faulkner Park to process evacuees and assign them to a shelter. Evacuees will be asked to only present to the reception center, not directly to the shelters. This will allow the Emergency Management Team to accurately assess the availability of shelters and mobilize other resources as needed. In addition, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Tyler Police Station will operate 24 hours a day to manage the response to the emergency.

The Red Cross, Baptist Children’s Family Services (BCFS) and Texas Military Forces will play a critical role in establishing and staffing shelters once they are identified.

-- submitted by Heather Newman