There is still plenty of room for flood victims at a newly-opened emergency shelter at NRG. METRO buses filled with people escaping high water rolled into the parking lot of NRG after 10 p.m. Tuesday night. As many as 1,030 people are staying at the shelter as of early Wednesday morning. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett announced Tuesday that the doors to the stadium would open to welcome 10,000 guests in the same place that housed Hurricane Katrina evacuees 12 years ago. In addition to offering a dry and safe place to sleep, volunteers have readied clean clothing, toiletries and meals for our neighbors in need. Heading up the shelter are two people many Houstonians will instantly recognize: former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and former Houston Mayor Annise Parker. Eckels said opening NRG to storm evacuees again will be different this time around.
Unlike during Hurricane Katrina, Eckels said shelter workers cannot just help place these flood victims in any home or any area of town. "Here, most of these folks have a home to go back to, or they have a job or school or some other reason to go back to their neighborhood," Eckels said. "For many of these folks, they just need the water to go down." Eckels said the county will be working with FEMA to make sure people, like those hard hit in areas including Channelview, North Shore and areas in east Harris County, can get back to their homes. But, while these challenges are different from the experience with housing New Orleans evacuees, some things remain the same. Just as Emmett called upon the Republican Eckels and Democrat Parker to lead, the former county judge said the city and county will unite for the cause of getting flood victims back on their feet. "We have a tradition in Houston of helping each other, and this city will come together," he said. "Houses will get rebuilt. We'll get people resettled. It's just what we do." From ABC 13 Updated 10: 18 p.m. Aug. 29 Harris County opening a shelter at NRG Center with space for 10,000 evacuees Harris County Judge Ed Emmett announced this evening the NRG Center will open at 10 p.m. with the capacity to house up to 10,000 evacuees. Volunteers will be needed in the coming days and can contact nonprofit BakerRipley for more details. NRG Center is located at 1 NRG Park, Houston.