Denton County Communities Prepare for the arrival of Gulf Coast Evacuees

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM DENTON COUNTY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Denton, Texas – Denton County and the communities of Denton, Carrollton, Lake Cities, and Lewisville have been making preparations for the arrival of persons evacuated from the Gulf Coast area to Denton County. Denton County activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Friday morning (August 29). Emergency Mangers and other officials throughout Denton County have been participating in daily conference call briefings from the Texas Governor’s Division of Emergency Management.

Denton County is preparing to activate up to four shelters in cooperation with the American Red Cross. These shelters will provide temporary housing for persons who are transported to Denton County via official evacuation buses and aircraft arriving to the North Texas area.

Denton County has set-up a Help Line to provide information to hurricane self evacuees that have located themselves to our county.  These self evacuees in Denton County can contact the Help Line to obtain information about local hotels, motels, banks, food banks, stores, and other information.  The Help Line number is 940-349-4270.

The hours of operation for the Help Line are as follows:

• Sunday Aug. 31, 12:00 noon to 7:00 p.m.
• Monday, Sept. 1, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, Sept. 2, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 3, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

“I have signed a disaster delcaration for Denton County to assure we are ready to assist any gulf coast citizens that may be seeking shelter in Denton County. Federal and State disaster declarations have been issued as well, which named 61 counties in Texas, including Denton County. This means that locally we are mobilizing our disaster preparedness resources and partners and are coordinating with the State and Federal government,” stated Denton County Judge Mary Horn. “I am asking all Denton County residents to please assist us in welcoming these guests to our communities and assist the Denton County United Way with cash donations and volunteering of your time. We did an extraordinary job of supporting the response efforts for Katrina and Rita and I am confident that the Denton County residents will rise to the occasion again.”

In preparation for addressing the numerous needs, the United Way of Denton County is accepting checks or cash donations to their Disaster Relief Fund. These donations will be used to support local agencies identified as providing services for the evacuees. Cash or check donations will be accepted at the following locations:

United Way of Denton County
625 Dallas Drive, Suite 525
Denton, TX 76205
Information & Referral 940-566-2688 

First State Bank
400 West Oak Street
Denton, TX  

First State Bank
1400 N. Corinth Street Ste 101
Corinth, TX 

The First State Bank Corinth & Denton Main Number is 940-349-5444.

The United Way of Denton County will be open on Monday, September 1, 2008 and will accept monetary donations, Mastercard or Visa donations, only. They are located at 625 Dallas Drive, Suite 525and updated information can be found at www.unitedwaydenton.org.

“The Denton County community was extremely generous during the 2005 Katrina/Rita relief efforts and United Way was literally overwhelmed with donations of cash, food, water and clothing,” said Lilia Bynum, President & CEO of United Way of Denton County. “We are asking the community to assist us again in the Hurricane Gustav relief effort. We are not sure what items we will need yet, but we can always use monetary donations and volunteers.”

The United Way of Denton County and the Salvation Army of Denton County will open a collection site where the public can drop off non-perishable food and other items to address specific needs. This information will be contained in a future press release.