Efforts to shelter evacuees from Beaumont and Port Arthur were made over the weekend and throughout most of the week by the Commerce Fire Department and American Red Cross. Setup for evacuees began Friday, Sept. 12 as Hurricane Ike approached the Texas Gulf Coast.
An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was set up at the fire department to be a point of information and main point of contact for Hunt County. There were two shelters, Berry Hall on the Texas A&M University-Commerce campus and another in the Commerce ISD middle school gym. The American Red Cross worked to keep people well fed and cared for during this time. As of 5 p.m. Sept. 13, there were 163 evacuees with approximately 60 more coming from the Reception Center in Mesquite that closed at 3 p.m.
Meals were provided by the Lion’s Mane Cafeteria, twice a day for lunch and dinner, while breakfast was given at the shelters and consisted of a basic cold cereal.
Steve Harrison, emergency coordinator and assistant chief of police, worked along side Aaron Williams, public information officer and justice of the peace for Wolfe City. Together, they connected with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and many others around Texas in communications to watch the movement of Ike and discuss what actions to take. Many surrounding counties were in conference throughout the path of Ike passing, as it quickly turned into a tropical storm.
“They don’t want people going back because of the high water and the electricity going out,” Robert Wood, bio-terrorism response planning coordinator said.Evacuees throughout the state will be notified when it is possible for them to return to their homes. Due to high water and power outages, evacuees were expected to stay until at least Wednesday, Sept. 17. Police and other public officials have also been told not to return until further notice.