Weather officials are predicting the present storm is going to be a Cat 3 hurricane, or more, and projections have one place it will come ashore is the Northern Texas shore. Does anyone know if they move the inmates from harms way??

Thank you
Justthemom

They moved them for Rita and I think that they have plans in place to do so anytime there is sufficient weather threat.

They used to put them all on the 2nd tier in the buildings. Dunno know if that has changed. Way to early to stress on Gustav though still a TS watch the noaa site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/143014.shtml?3day#contents
Last i knew they are still projecting a hit in Mexico.

They are pretty good about moving inmates when hurricanes threaten a particular area.

Guastav was a category 1 hurricane yesterday morning and has only weakened some due to the fact that it is currently sitting over land. That will change as it moves westward and they are saying that it may as much as a category 3 by the time it enters the gulf where it can really pick up steam. No reason to stress even then. Rita proved that we can't all run away if it decides to come to H town so, why worry? Just make sure there is plenty of beer and hunker down.

Thank you for answering my question. It is good to know there is a POA in place for threatening weather. I have not had to think about this ... until now.

If the storm develops and does move this way I may have more questions!! :)

It seems to be heading towards the upper Texas coast, Louisiana, and off that way, but still longer than three days away and they say it is a big margin for error more than three days out. I think our resident FEMA worker is on top of it and can let us know.

Surely, Texas has a plan in place and is ready to go after Katrina...even for our inmates. I think that is why so many were moved with Rita....

I hope everyone will be safe and no worries.......

Yes, th einmates will be moved if the district supervisor thinks there is a danger, open and shut.
Honestly, prisons are the safest places to be during a storm, building wise.
Be safe.

Todays Austin newspaper says, Newton, orange and Jasper tx could be threatened by the hurricane. I called Newton Co. and they said that they will not evacuate and that That building was built to withstand a Cat 5 Hurricane and it is the safest place anyone could be. Even all of the staff whether on duty or not, stay there in the event of a Hurricane. If you think about it, they really are built well. I feel better, but I guess I shouldn't plan on visiting from Austin this weekend!

Patti

Holliday Unit has metal buildings (6 I think) sort of like Army Barracks. I don't know how well they are built to withstand a Hurricane. At least they are not right on the coast!

For the buildings that alot of the people are in they remind me of mobile homes with the exception that these buildings are anchored into the concrete. So here's what the Saffir Simpson Scale says in reference to this material.

Category Three Hurricane: Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris.
More than likely the people that are in these types are buildings will be evacuated further inland. I know during Hurricane Dolly down in south Texas Segovia was packing up their stuff in the mailroom just in case they did evacuate. There was a CO on here that said he was also on-call to drive a bus in case they did get evacuated. So they do apparently have evacuation plans.

As it has been stated on some of the above post we have NO idea where this one is going to land or how strong. Heck Hurricane Katrina went to a Category 5 almost making a Cat 6 when she died down before she land. The levees is what brough New Orleans down.. So the only thing we can do now is just watch & wait. HOWEVER -- if any of ya'll are near the coast go to FEMA's website & look at this very valuable "Preparing for Hurricanes" http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html
We already have people from Louisiana calling in to see if we're putting people in hotels or paying their way to get out of town. Until we get a declaration from the President there is nothing we can do. Now the President can declare assistance for things like paying for the gas for the busses (public assistance), etc.. BEFORE the hurricane hits.

Oh my gosh :ha:-- Lormar, I'm sooooo sorry I went over again.

Mop, I guess I'm more dense than I thought, I don't get it, "YOU WENT OVER AGAIN" Splain that to me.

I will be on one of the ERT.

There were a whole bunch of people that got moved to The Walls unit in Huntsville in 2006 for I believe tropical storm/hurricane "Erin" (or maybe Humberto)... which turned out to be not much.

I've got mixed feelings about this really, I know the safety issues involved... but I don't think those ppl were too comfortable sitting in the gym on mattresses for close to a week w/ absolutely nothing to do.

I was assigned there so it wasn't a big deal for me but everytime I'd look down there it was mostly just people laying in their beds doing absolutely nothing. Wasn't even a whole lot of room to walk around.

Oh well, better safe than sorry I guess, eh? Would be far worse if nothing was done and something catastrophic happened.

ed: and in answer to the question.. yes, inmates should be moved.. they were at least twice that I was witness to..

The are prepared to evacuate the Beaumont complex (Gist, Stiles, Leblanc). I passed 11 bluebirds (TDCJ buses) on my way home wednesday night that were headed to Beaumont. Stiles will probably stay since it is a hardened facility, unless it is a cat. 5. Gist and Leblanc can withstand up to a cat. 3 with moderate damage.

The are prepared to evacuate the Beaumont complex (Gist, Stiles, Leblanc). I passed 11 bluebirds (TDCJ buses) on my way home wednesday night that were headed to Beaumont. Stiles will probably stay since it is a hardened facility, unless it is a cat. 5. Gist and Leblanc can withstand up to a cat. 3 with moderate damage.

Don't forget Hightower and Plane

Lychner is a single story barracks type. I wouldn't want to weather a cat 3 in that place. I hope they are moved.

If they evacuate Beaumont area, will they take them to Lufkin or Huntsville? Hopefully the whole thing will fizzle out some by the time it hits anywhere on the coast...

I have a question. If they do evacuate, how long will they stay away from their main UNIT? Billy is supposed to come home on Friday. Would they keep him longer or would they release him from where he was at, or is at. Hanna better back off cause I want him home!

They usually only stay as long as needed. IF there is any damage to the units they will fix it and get the guys back. I'm assuming they'll release him no matter what. Huntsville isn't in the path of this thing, nor is Tennessee Colony so there shouldn't be any problem getting him to Huntsville for release.

I don't want to take this off-topic, but he was doing State Time and would have been released from GIST. He was to take the bus home unfortunately. Would they get him on a bus wherever he was? If they are still at other units from this hurricane or possible hurricanes? Will someone call me about his release the day before to ensure his homecoming, like a caseworker?

they did evacuate LeBlanc Unit today I went to see my husband and there were lots of buses loading the guys up and hauling them off...the guards said they did not know where they were going...I heard Tennessee Colony....I do hope he gets back there within the next wk or so...want no delays in him getting out on time...will he be able to write while at another unit..maybe that way he can fill me in on the latest from his end

No visits in Tenn Colony this weekend. Coastal Prisons are bussing their guys inland.

Ramsey, stringfellow or Terrell unit's moving?

I posted this last night to a different post, but I'm paraphrasing it here for this post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: Evacuations

If you hadn't found it yet, you can call the TDCJ 24 hour Hotline @ 936-437-6127 to find out where someone was sent. I've called twice yesterday and they said that it will be this afternoon before they will have the info sheets on where everyone was sent. (I told the lady I spoke to - it seems to me that they should have had that info before they just started putting people on the buses! :p)

I'm really wondering about and having a lot of "feelings" with something that I want to ask about on here.

I feel like that depending on how the hurricane(s) affect the Gulf Coast region, I feel like they could let some people out early; especially those who are in pre-release now. (Though I could be wrong, but if the hurricane(s) destroys some prisons, what other choice would they have since they are already overcrowded?) I'm not hoping for major destruction (and I really "feel" for everyone in it's path), but hey, if it could get my baby home to me quicker, I hope several prisons go down! :D (Just kidding!)

All we can do now is wait and see what will happen in the next week or so. I say it like that because I heard yesterday morning that they are predicting that "Hanna" (the other hurricane) could possibly move into the Gulf Coast area by next weekend. I haven't heard the latest about that since though. (But I did see something about other storms not far behind Hanna now too.)

I'm keeping my thoughts focused on positive outcomes for us all! ;) :thumbsup:

K

We have a front coming in. I don't think Hanna will be a problem. I do not think Gustav will be a problem either for Texas. Louisiana is another story. They need our prayers. I did call because my fiance is supposed to come home on Friday. It is believed that they would send him to THE WALLS if he is there on Friday. I really think that they will be back in their bunks by Wednesday or Thursday.

I would rather have him safe for a few more days than out in that crap a free man. Your SO is very very safe. OK..maybe 1 very. :)

I know you all are talking about the prisons on the coast, but my hubby is in Liberty Co Jail (in the old jail). Does anyone know if they are moving those guys? I would assume the US Marshalls would be moving him b/c he is Federal. It would be nice if they did move him close to Lufkin. I've only seen him once since May.

Has anyone heard whether or not Plane will be evacuated? I am getting really worried. Daughter has only been there a month so I am new to all this.

Can anyone tell me how structurelly sound is the Lewis Unit is in Woodville?I'm worried because it is so close to Beaumont and Jasper.

Hi gang,

I started to move several posts out of this thread into the Texas Hurricane subforum, but since most of them were now-old from days ago and before Gustav actually hit, I left them alone.

If you have updates or questions or other info about specific units, PLEASE start another thread in the forum and title it "Visitation at X Canceled" or some other appropriate title. If you have a new question, ask it in its own thread.

The purpose of having these forums is so people can come to the subforums, look at the threads and see if the info they are wondering about or need is right there. If multiple questions or multiple announcements about specific prisons or jails get stuck in a thread like this one, they may never get answered or looked at (and many of the ones in here over the weekend didn't - if they'd been in a new thread started, someone probably would have answered fast).

Also be sure and look thru the posts and threads before you post - what you're about to ask or wondering about might already be posted.
Thanks and best....