“The majority of them are going home,” said Dennis Baker, Bell County emergency management coordinator. “There may be a handful whose homes are not safe, but most of them are going home.”
Charter buses on standby for the state arrived in Bell County at about 7 a.m. More than 230 residents from Brazoria, Angleton, Sweeny and West Columbia were reunited with their pets and given sack lunches for the trip home.
Baker said between 500 and 520 evacuees are still in shelters in Bell County.
Transportation for the next wave of evacuees was still being worked out late Thursday after Baker was notified three more communities are ready for residents to return.
Depending upon bus availability, the residents would be returned home today or Saturday.
Baker would not identify which cities contacted him.
“It causes a lot of anxiety at the shelters,” he said. “As soon as we find out we give notice to the people at the shelter.”
Meanwhile, the last Red Cross shelter bordering Bell County closed its doors Thursday in Copperas Cove.
Bob Roberts, branch manager for the Temple-Killeen Heart of Texas Chapter, said the Red Cross was busy transferring people to FEMA’s long-term recovery plan.
Roberts said FEMA would pay hotel bills until Oct. 14 for people who lost their homes or had significant damage from the storm.
“Here in Cove, we’ve got about 30 to 40 that are in transition,” Roberts said. “All their kids are enrolled in school, at least until the end of the month.”
In eastern Bell County, Martha Burchett, a captain with the Salvation Army, said with the help of volunteers the organization was providing more than 1,000 meals a day.
Some of the main dishes served to evacuees included stuffed bell peppers, pork loin, tacos, brisket and turkey.
“I am not going to treat them any less than what I would want,” Burchett said.
Burchett said she used her personal credit card to purchase food for evacuees but would be reimbursed later through the agency.
In addition, Burchett said Performance Food Group of Temple delivered $10,000 worth of food this week.
Burchett estimated that in eastern Bell County alone the Salvation Army had spent $30,000 feeding evacuees.
“We’re going to feed people as long as there is a need,” she said.
Evacuees and emergency organizers alike have praised people in Central Texas for their graciousness.
“The communities have stepped up really well,” Roberts said. “In Copperas Cove, we have had donations come in every day. Churches have been helping to provide food. The Cove theater did a movie night and Skate World offered a free night of skating.”
Shanelle Fuse, a 26-year-old mother with three children younger than 3, said volunteers have showed up at the First Baptist Church in Belton every day and ran her children ragged.
“At night, they sleep all night,” she said about her children. “People here are really nice.”
