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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | Serving Del Rio and Val Verde County: Since 1929
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Del Rio readies for Rita
Published September 22, 2005
As Hurricane Rita bears down on the Texas Gulf Coast, Del Rio is preparing – not necessarily for bad weather from the storm, but for evacuees from that region of the state.
On Thursday morning, Del Rio Mayor Dora G. Alcalá said, “(Del Rio Fire & Rescue Department Deputy Chief) John Sheedy is our emergency management coordinator, and he and I and the city manager met in Uvalde yesterday with our regional team, and they’ve been in touch with the state coordinators. That’s how the pyramid works.”
Alcalá said the city already has been designated as an evacuation center for Rita refugees.
She said the Del Rio Civic Center, 1915 Veterans Blvd., has been designated as Del Rio’s primary shelter for Hurricane Rita evacuees “and we’re making preparations for alternate sites.”
“Our doors are open to any evacuees that may be coming to us from the Gulf Coast,” said Alcalá.
She also noted that the city is working closely with the American Red Cross to coordinate the flow of evacuees from the Texas Gulf Coast.
Alcalá said Del Rio also is expected to receive many “relatives and friends” of local residents who will be coming here on their own.
The mayor said that although no local bad weather is expected from the storm, an emergency evacuation plan is in place if heavy rains begin.
Alcalá noted that following Del Rio’s devastating flood of 1998, families living in the city’s most flood-prone areas – along San Felipe Creek in south Del Rio – were forced to move because their homes had been destroyed or irreparably damaged.
She said the city stands ready to order evacuation of homes from Chapoy Street to the creek “if we start getting a lot of rain headed this way.”
Jane Pratt, manager of the American Red Cross Del Rio Branch, this morning said the Cody Wardlaw Gym on West Martin Street was opened Wednesday afternoon for evacuees fleeing Hurricane Rita.
Pratt said the gym is being manned by ARC volunteers, with Alan Alexander, ARC board president, at the helm. She said security at Cody Wardlaw is being provided by members of the Del Rio Fire & Rescue Department.
Val Verde County Sheriff A. D’Wayne Jernigan said the county detention center here has received 167 inmates from jails in Victoria, Port Aransas and from San Patricio County, and is expected to receive 70 more from Nueces County today.
“All of our (sheriff’s office) staff is on standby in case there are problems, though we don’t expect any,” Jernigan said.
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