An evening of fires ravaged San Patricio County, leaving some residents seeking shelter and waiting for daylight to assess the damage.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Mayor Mary Speidel announced Wednesday morning that all evacuated Sinton residents may now return to their homes.
“Please be advised that there is NO gas available for properties North of E. Main Street. It may be off for some time. We will post updated information as soon as it is available.”
“PLEASE if you have no immediate business in the area do not go there. Law enforcement, utilities and fire departments are busy and we don’t want additional congestion.”
As the morning hours trickled in over the San Patricio community, families who were forced to evacuate to the Sinton Civic Center were still waiting for answers about when they will be allowed to return to their homes.
Local officials, including fire marshals from both San Patricio County and the city of Sinton, are heading out to survey the fill magnitude of damage in the daylight hours “We need to evaluate the situation before allowing anyone back in,” said San Patricio County Judge David Krebs.
“We don’t want to take people back into an area that has no water, no electricity and no gas.”
“So that’s the first thing we have to do when the sun comes up, is evaluate what we have before we let them get back in.”
Evacuees were joined overnight by a group of more than 60 from a detention center located near the middle of the fire, according to the county judge. The community was initially meant to shelter at the Sinton Community Center, but electricity was out on east end of town.
Judge Krebs said he believes Sinton’s Mayor Mary Speidel’s will soon announce a disaster declaration, which would enable local officials to access disaster relief resources. The county will follow suit, though there is some uncertainty around the availability of FEMA funds. “We’ll see how FEMA works out,” said Krebs. “FEMA is still behind… but we just have to do all our qualifications, make sure our paperwork is done.”
A 4 a.m. Facebook post from Mayor Speidel implored South Texans to pray for the Sinton community, saying that those directly impacted by the fires had ‘lost everything.’
“By last report no serious injuries have been sustained but 25 homes have been lost. Our tight community has been affected by this fire,” Speidel said.
While the fire was mostly contained Tuesday night, the road ahead for many residents remains unclear and residents are unsure of exactly what they will return home to when they are given the go-ahead to leave the shelter.