CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Refugio County announced a mandatory evacuation for all residents on Saturday ahead of Beryl.
Bus rides will be provided for residents who do not have transportation to travel to a safe location outside the county, according to officials.
Buses will leave from the Refugio County Expo Center at the county fairgrounds. Residents need to be there by 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Those who will be riding the bus are asked to call the Refugio County Office of Emergency Management on Saturday at 361-526-2820. This will allow officials to know how many people will need to be bused out of the county.
You can also call that number if you need to get picked up and dropped off at the fairgrounds.
The mandatory evacuation was not a decision Refugio County Judge Jhiela “Gigi” Poynter made lightly, but she said it is the right decision considering the circumstances.
Poynter discussed what went into the decision to issue a mandatory evacuation for the county.
"It's not just about the wind and the rain, it's about our county's capacity to handle an emergency situation," Poynter said.
Poynter said that the decision is about more than just the weather, Refugio County is a small county with limited resources and manpower.
Poynter and the Emergency Management Coordinator are on calls with the National Weather Service staying up-to-date about Beryl, which went into the decision to evacuate. She said local officials and mayors are staying informed as the storm gets closer.
"We've been able to maintain that constant contact with them to ensure that everyone's on the same page and we're all basically united in how we're proceeding at this point," Poynter said.
Poynter stressed the importance of people's health and safety and their property during this time.
She said it is too early to know when it will be safe for people to come back, since there could be issues with power outages and water availability—as seen with previous storms like Harvey. She added that residents will continue to get info about the current situation in Refugio County.
"We're doing everything we can to keep them safe," Poynter said. "This mandatory evacuation is our best chance to ensure that everybody remains safe and that we mitigate our damages the best that we can."
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