A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for the city of Galveston ahead of Hurricane Laura. Texas Department of Criminal Justice | PO Box 99 | Huntsville, Texas 77342-0099 | (936) 295-6371, Link to Texas Department of Criminal Justice homepage, Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse of TDCJ Resources. Residents who are already signed up to receive alerts should review their communication preferences in the system. For the media: If you need additional information, please contact the Communication Office at 936-437-6052 or at Jeremy.Desel@tdcj.texas.gov. State Highway 87 and State Highway 124 have been cleared by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Bolivar-Galveston Ferry service has been restored. The City will be working with the state on the safe return of residents who evacuated on buses. Chambers County. Live: Half a million evacuated amid fears of 'unsurvivable storm surge' when storm makes landfall as Category 4. MAURICEVILLE, Texas — Officials are allowing some residents to return home after an evacuation was called following a train derailment in Mauriceville on Thursday morning. Residents in low lying areas including those along Clear Lake, Clear Creek and Dickinson Bayou, along with residents with medical needs and who use devices that require electricity, are strongly encouraged to consider evacuating. TDCJ officials are working around the clock in preparation for Tropical Storms Marco and Laura approaching the Texas coast. While there is still a moderate degree of uncertainty regarding the track of the storm, Laura is now a hurricane and forecasted to strengthen to a category 3 before landfall. As Laura approached the U.S. Gulf Coast, cities and counties in southeast Texas issued mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders. Residents are beginning to evacuate Galveston County after a mandatory order was issued ahead of Hurricane Laura. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports live from Winnie, Texas. The moves will affect approximately 3,400 offenders and 200 clients assigned to these facilities and is expected to be completed later today. The City of Kemah will resume normal operations Friday, August 28, 2020. Offenders assigned to the LeBlanc Unit will be evacuated to the East Texas Treatment Facility in Henderson. Evacuations are underway in Texas after remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda triggered tornadoes and dangerous flooding in the state. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Area in southeast Texas evacuated following train derailment Mauriceville (Source: Orange County Office of Emergency Management) By Jeff Awtrey | October 29, 2020 at 12:26 PM CDT - … Residents signed up to receive alerts may receive voice messages, text, and email notifications. State Highway 87 and State Highway 124 are being cleared by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and are expected to be opened later today. The curfew order has been lifted, and there will not be a curfew in the city tonight. Although Marco may not be a significant concern for Texas at this point, Laura does have the potential for storm surge, according to the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management. The County Shelters were able to “stand down” Thursday morning and assist the shelter residents in returning home to their daily activities. Jefferson County Judge Jeff R. Branick has terminated the mandatory evacuation order for the county. Stay tuned to your local news for the most updated evacuation news. Offenders assigned to the Gist State Jail will be evacuated to various Huntsville area units. Depending on the severity of the hurricane, it may become necessary to evacuate portions of the Houston-Galveston region. All facilities will be open and services available to the public. Mayor Thom Kolupski has extended the voluntary evacuation recommendation to the entire city. Clients from the Beaumont Residential Reentry Center and Transitional Treatment Centers will be evacuated to the Jester 1 Unit in Richmond. In alphabetical order, here's which areas have issued evacuation orders and which ones are mandatory. Additional law enforcement assets have been dispatched to the unincorporated areas of Galveston County to provide added protection for residents’ properties as they make their return. All residents need to continue to watch Hurricane Laura closely, as the track for this storm continues to change. Texas A&M University-- University officials announced that it was issuing mandatory evacuation orders for all students on the Texas A&M University at Galveston campus effective Tuesday. The City says the recommendation to voluntary evacuate should seriously be considered by the city’s most vulnerable populations, including those who are disabled or have medical conditions. Updates on preparation activities will be added as they become available to the TDCJ Web site at https://www.tdcj.texas.gov and on the agency’s social media pages. This map, using data from multiple sources, indicates evacuation zones in Texas based on zip zone, classified based on storm surge threat, as Hurricane Laura approaches. Officials say it is now safe for residents of the Bolivar Peninsula to return to their homes. Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta has issued a Voluntary Evacuation for low-lying coastal communities outside the protection levee. County Judge Jay Knight has issued a voluntary evacuation for Liberty County. Update as of 2 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2020 Galveston County issued a mandatory evacuation for the Bolivar Peninsula. Hurricane Laura has forced evacuations of over half a million people in Texas and Louisiana ahead of its expected landfall along the Gulf Coast early Thursday. CBS affiliate KKOU-TV reports Hardin County, Texas, is terminating a mandatory evacuation order as of noon on Thursday, according to a news release from Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel. The National Weather Services has issued a Hurricane Warning for Seabrook and a Storm Surge Warning for Galveston Bay. State Highway 87 and State Highway 124 have been cleared by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Bolivar-Galveston Ferry service has been restored. League City Mayor Pat Hallisey has issued a local state of disaster and a voluntary evacuation order for all of League City. The City says they did not sustain wind or storm damage, and water is receding in low-lying areas that experienced street flooding. In the event that you decide you want to evacuate on your own and you have no place to stay you can go to the following location for shelter: San Antonio Reception Center254 Gembler RdSan Antonio, TX 78219. The mandatory evacuation order for resident who live in low-lying area, flood prone areas, and trailer/manufactured homes has been lifted. Here's a list of evacuations as of Tuesday evening: Texas. All non-essential city facilities will close at noon today, August 25, 2020. Some 330,000 Southeast Texas residents will officially be under a mandatory evacuation order as of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday as part of the first mandatory pre-hurricane evacuations in Southeast Texas … Brazoria County will continue to provide updates on social media and the County website. There will be no trash or recycling services on Thursday; service may resume on Friday depending on the impacts of the storm. Evacuations of more than 400,000 people were ordered across East Texas. All offenders and staff are using N-95 mask PPE at all times. Air monitors on sight are "still coming up clean." An exceptionally busy Atlantic hurricane season was churning along Saturday as the Texas coast prepared for a tropical storm that could strengthen into a … The … TxDOT is also in the process of assessing conditions and working to restart the ferry service to the Peninsula. The exact track of Hurricane Laura is still subject to change quickly and all residents are urged to have a plan in place in the event of a mandatory evacuation. Evacuations ordered in Grand Prairie due to large natural gas fire near State Highway 360 The National Weather Service sent out an alert about the fire just after noon on Saturday. Offenders assigned to the Goodman Unit will be evacuated to the Eastham Unit in Lovelady. The evacuation will be lifted at sometime today, he said, although an exact time is not yet known. Officials say there were minimal weather impacts to the county, and now that the threat has passed, residents who evacuated are free to safely return to their homes. PORT NECHES, Texas — Holiday plans for tens of thousands of families in southeast Texas were upended Wednesday after a pair of explosions at a chemical plant prompted an evacuation … In preparation for Hurricane Laura, the City is issuing a Voluntary Evacuation Order for all areas of La Porte, effective immediately. Residents are leaving on buses following an evacuation order from Port Arthur, just 90 miles east of Houston. The county noted that first responders wouldn’t be able to travel once winds reach 35 mph. If residents reside in an incorporated city, they should listen to notices from those jurisdictions and follow any guidelines provided by their local city officials. A mandatory evacuation that was ordered for those living in structures unable to withstand intense weather conditions has been lifted. Areas that reported minimal impacts from the hurricane are now lifting their evacuation orders and allowing residents to return home. 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