KTRK-13 news has been live since about 11:00 pm at the Astrodome.
KTRK is reporting that the City of Houston fire marshall has closed the Astrodome to further evacuees. Many buses are still waiting.
KTRK reports that the fire marshal will not have a comment until 10:00 am. Dave Ward has been highly critical of the confusion.
There seems to be no comment either from Mayor White, who announced on KSEV-700 this afternoon that he had to end an interview so he could go watch his son’s football game. This was in the 4:00 hour.
Kudos to KTRK for reporting on this story live tonight. KPRC-2 has belatedly begun reporting, but KTRK has owned tonight’s unfortunate story.
UPDATE: KTRK’s Mark Garay is now reporting that some buses are now being allowed into the Astrodome area.
UPDATE 2: Now an HPD sergeant is reporting that EVERY bus in the vicinity will be processed and allowed into the Astrodome.
It’s starting to appear that nobody knows what is going on.
Actually, on second thought, it strikes me that the fact KTRK was on site and Dave Ward was so critical of the confusion may actually have gotten things moving. Again, kudos to KTRK for their work on the story.
UPDATE 3: Dave Ward just called the decision “a stunning reversal” and said “apparently they just booted the fire marshal out of the place!” Ward approves.
UPDATE 4: Here’s a Chronicle story from a bit earlier, explaining the now-reversed decision to close the Astrodome:
Officials closed the Reliant Astrodome to further New Orleans evacuees late Thursday, shortly before five more busloads arrived.
Although the passengers initially were told they would have to reboard the buses and go to Huntsville, officials relented and allowed at least one busload of 67 passengers to stay. The fate of the other four buses was still being considered late Thursday.
Houston Police Sgt. Nate McDuell said the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office ordered that no more evacuees be accepted.
“We’re at capacity and buses are being diverted to other cities and other shelters,” McDuell said.
Thank goodness common sense and Dave Ward prevailed over a bureaucrat. This was a potential fiasco.
Incidentally, there were MANY more than five buses waiting, as the KTRK coverage made clear. The Chronicle needs to be more careful in reporting numbers.
UPDATE 5 (12:43 am): KTRK reports that 108 buses are waiting, as counted by the KTRK helicopter crew. That’s 103 more buses than reported by the Chronicle.
UPDATE 6 (12:57 am): The Mayor’s spokesman Pat Trahan has been dispatched to conduct damage control with KTRK’s Mark Garay at the Astrodome. Trahan just mentioned the “five buses” number, which the Chronicle story picked up uncritically earlier. Isn’t that interesting? Trahan says the Reliant Center is being opened to accommodate the latest evacuees.
UPDATE 7 (1:09 am): Dave Ward seems satisfied things are finally under control, and KTRK has wrapped up its coverage.
