The shelter, located at 7000 Metropolis Drive in southeast Austin, is scheduled to welcome roughly 400 people on Friday, according to city spokesperson David Green. Green said the 400 people would come from other active area shelters in an attempt to consolidate all hurricane relief efforts into one “mega shelter.”
State government officials told the city to expect to take in between 1,500 and 2,000 Hurricane Harvey evacuees over the next seven-to-10 days, according to Green, who said that number has fluctuated, with original projections estimated around 7,000.
Although the city originally tapped the Austin Convention Center as the “mega shelter,” Austin City Council on Thursday pivoted away from the option, instead moving from downtown to the southeast location. City staff said the new location would provide a longer-term solution than the convention center, which is booked with events in the coming months and is more limited in space.
Austin will work with the Red Cross and other local relief organizations to run the shelter. City staff said the “mega shelter” will operate as a “city inside a city,” with services provided for the displaced, from regular meals and laundry to medical and social work assistance. There are even air-conditioned tents outside to house pets.
City staff would not give an estimate on how long they expect the shelter to operate. According to the contract approved by City Council on Thursday, the lease on the building is month-to-month with seven potential renewals. Green said Hurricane Katrina victims stayed between three to four months.
Here is a first look of inside the city of Austin’s new “mega shelter” for Hurricane Harvey victims.
