Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – Dallas is closing its “megashelter,” which housed 3,500 people after Hurricane Harvey. Dallas says about 200 people are staying at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center now.
“Full-out, 24 hour effort has resulted in the City of Dallas doing great things for the people in South Texas,” says Mayor Mike Rawlings.
Most remaining evacuees are from areas south and west of Houston. Those who stay will be taken to a rec center.
Rawlings says about 100 families have said they want to stay in Dallas. Those families will receive help finding apartments and transitional housing.
“We are so much better this time than we were with Katrina,” he says. “I think the whole country was because we had been through it once before.”
Dallas launched a relief fund after Katrina. Right now, Rawlings says the fund has $1.2 million in private donations. That money will go to families trying to find transitional housing.
The Dallas city council will also vote to send trash crews to Houston to help with debris pick-up. Rawlings says crews will stay for 30 days, so bulk and brush pick-up in Dallas will be restricted this Fall.
“This is where citizens can help.” he says. “They’re calling me all the time and saying, ‘How can I help?’ Now, you can help.”
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