Thousands of Gulf Coast residents fled from rapidly intensifying Hurricane Laura as hotels and shelters filled quickly, exacerbating the struggles of evacuees who lost jobs in the coronavirus pandemic long before the storm ever approached on Wednesday.
ENNIS, Texas — Thousands of Gulf Coast residents fled from rapidly intensifying Hurricane Laura as hotels and shelters filled quickly, exacerbating the struggles of evacuees who lost jobs in the coronavirus pandemic long before the storm ever approached on Wednesday. Leaders in Texas and Louisiana urged people in the expected path of what forecasters called an extremely dangerous major hurricane to move inland before it was too late. Forecasters predicted a life-threatening storm surge would pummel a wide stretch of the coast. Evacuees traveled as far as Ennis, Texas, a city south of Dallas several hours from the coast. James and Samantha Bison evacuated from Jasper, Texas,about 200 miles (320 kilometers) away, and made their way to Ennis after being directed there by a 211 information line. Hoping for shelter there, they ended up sleeping in their car and then were told by another 211 operator to head to San Antonio, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) in another direction. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state had 200,000 hotel rooms for evacuees. But Ennis city leaders said they had no space in hotels and no vouchers to give evacuees. Shalonda Joseph, a teacher who evacuated to Ennis from Port Arthur, Texas, with her sisters, said their family had burned through savings as some of them had already lost their jobs because of the virus. “The COVID-19 is just totally wiping us out,” said Joseph,43. Both the Joseph and Bison families eventually headed further north to Richardson, a Dallas suburb, and waited to see if a hotel would give them rooms.
