Hurricane Laura evacuees turned away as Austin shelter runs out of room

KVUE’s Tori Larned reports that the COTA shelter ran out of room early Wednesday morning. This comes one day after city leaders announced on Tuesday that Austin would be one of the places that had a shelter for Hurricane Laura evacuees.

COTA officials did not give the exact reason why they are turning people away but said the shelter had to start turning people away around midnight because they ran out of hotel vouchers. They were able to reopen again and had been open for most of Wednesday morning. However, gates began closing again around 5 a.m. as the shelter ran out of space.

KVUE asked what the next step is for people looking for shelter, and officials said there are other areas evacuees can go to such as San Antonio and Dallas that have evacuation centers. They also suggested evacuees find their own motel or hotel.

As of Wednesday morning, cars going to sit and wait at COTA is not an option. 

Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. The major hurricane is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane by Wednesday. Download the KVUE app to get the latest updates straight to your phone.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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