Updated

Updated · KPRC Click2Houston · Sep 2

Red Cross Opens 2 Texas Shelters for Edouard Flood Victims as Water Traps Livingston Residents

Updated

Updated · KPRC Click2Houston · Sep 2

Red Cross Opens 2 Texas Shelters for Edouard Flood Victims as Water Traps Livingston Residents

Q: With pets strictly banned from the Red Cross shelters, what dangerous choices are East Texas flood victims making to save their animals?

They are delaying evacuation, refusing to go to Red Cross shelters, or trying to move through floodwater with their pets rather than leave them behind. The Red Cross shelters opened in Polk and Tyler counties explicitly do not allow pets. In disasters, that restriction often forces owners into risky decisions: staying in flooded homes longer than is safe, attempting last-minute rescues by car or on foot through water-covered roads, or seeking informal shelter in unsafe places so they can keep animals with them. The danger is clear in East Texas conditions described by officials: roads are flooded, barricades are up, some residents had to be evacuated by boat, and water in parts of Livingston reached waist-high levels. Emergency managers are warning that floodwater can be deeper or faster-moving than it looks, making any effort to transport pets through it especially hazardous. Animal-disaster responders say pet-friendly evacuation options reduce these risks because families are less likely to make what Austin Pets Alive called an “impossible choice” between personal safety and their animals. When pets cannot accompany owners into shelters, people are more likely to remain in dangerous areas or re-enter them. For affected residents, the safest option is to contact local emergency management or animal rescue groups immediately to ask about pet sheltering, foster help, or transport assistance, while still following evacuation orders and never driving into floodwater.

3 articles · Updated · KPRC Click2Houston · Sep 2

Two emergency shelters opened in Polk and Tyler counties after flooding from Tropical Depression Edouard displaced residents in Deep East Texas, with one site at Dunbar Gym in Livingston.
Waist-high water surrounded homes and covered roads in parts of Livingston, forcing some residents to leave by boat even as officials said the situation was not life-threatening.
Fifteen to 20 cots were being prepared at the Livingston shelter, which is offering blankets, hygiene kits, meals, bathrooms and showers, with capacity able to expand as displacement becomes clearer.
Red Cross teams are coordinating with local emergency managers across Southeast and Deep East Texas, while officials urged drivers to avoid barricades and flooded roads and told affected residents to call 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Sources

KPRC Click2Houston1d ago

Red Cross Opens Shelters in Polk, Tyler Counties for Tropical Depression Edouard Flood Victims

KETK | FOX51 | EastTexasMatters.com1d ago

Damage, power outages reported as Edouard drenches portions of East Texas | KETK.com | FOX51.com

FOX 26 Houston1d ago

Red Cross opens shelters in Southeast Texas due to Tropical Depression Edouard | FOX 26 Houston

5 Sources

Volunteers prepared only twenty cots for a flooded Texas town requiring boat evacuations; is a massive shelter shortage looming for displaced residents?

With pets strictly banned from the Red Cross shelters, what dangerous choices are East Texas flood victims making to save their animals?

If waist-high floodwaters requiring boat rescues aren't considered life-threatening, what terrifying threshold must be crossed before officials declare a true emergency?