Austin Area Activates Shelter Plan To Prepare For Evacuees

Austin, TX – The City of Austin, Travis County, Hays County, and Williamson County have activated the Capital Area Shelter Hub Plan at the request of the State of Texas to begin preparing to receive evacuees from coastal communities.

This effort will be coordinated out of the Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center in addition to the ongoing COVID-19 activation. 
 
Media with questions about evacuations, sheltering preparations, and other related questions can call a specific media line for this information (512) 974-0590.

This phone line will be staffed from 8 AM – 6 PM, seven days a week. After hours calls can be made to the on-call PIO at 512-974-0599. 
 
A 30-minute conference call for media to ask questions will be held at 1 PM. Please respond to Bryce.Bencivengo@austintexas.gov if you would like to participate.
 
The City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Travis County Office of Emergency Management have been reviewing and altering the Capital Area Shelter Hub Plan to prepare to respond to sheltering needs during a pandemic since earlier this summer.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in substantial changes to the plan to shelter evacuees. These changes include assigning evacuees to hotels instead of a few or single large congregate shelter. 
 
At this time, the planned locations to receive evacuees and the locations of hotels for evacuees are not being made public. Some of this information will be provided in subsequent updates.  
 
For the most up-to-date information about City operations and traffic conditions, monitor City of Austin social media on Twitter (@austintexasgov) or the City website at AustinTexas.gov.