Hays County wildfire near Buda leads to evacuation order for nearby residents

An evacuation order is in effect for a small area in Hays County west of Mountain City and Buda as multiple wildfires cropped up Tuesday.

The fire is located north of Indian Hills Trail, east of Teal Lane, west of Story Drive and north of Onion Creek, the Hays County Office of Emergency Services said in a 5:20 p.m. Facebook post.

The county says, while no structures are in danger, people who were ordered to evacuate can go to Southern Hills Church of Christ at 3740 FM 967.

More than 17,000 Austin Energy customers are still without power as strong winds blew through the area, down from about 31,000 earlier in the day. Austin Energy officials said the outages may be caused by broken tree limbs and damaged electrical equipment.

In a post on X, Austin Energy said all available crews were in service and it was bringing on additional help to respond to the outages. A map of the outages is available here.

“Customers” represent the number of electric meters that are out. Electric utility analysts often estimate each meter represents 2.5 people, which means roughly 43,000 people are without power as of 5:30 p.m.

If you come across downed power lines, stay at least 30 feet away and call 911, the utility said. Don’t drive over a power line, as the wires could get tangled in your vehicle, pulling down poles or other utility equipment.

The Austin area is at an extremely high risk of wildfire with winds up to 55 mph and low humidity levels.

A red flag warning is in effect in the area until 9 p.m. Austin Wildfire Division officials are urging residents to have an evacuation plan along with a go bag containing 72 hours’ worth of essentials, such as clothes, medications and valuables.

Sign up for emergency alerts at WarnCentralTexas.org.

This is a developing story.

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