Dallas To Open Third Shelter For Harvey Evacuees

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) -- Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said Sunday afternoon that the city will now open a third shelter to accommodate Tropical Storm Harvey evacuees.

The shelter will be located at the Samuell Grand Rec 6200 E Grand Ave center. The mayor said the center should be open by 8pm tonight.

Speaking outside the Walnut Hill shelter, Rawlings praised the State of Texas for being as prepared as possible and for coordinating efforts din response to Harvey.

Rawlings said that his wife and other city leaders earlier said Grace over pizza & bananas with evacuees.

The Walnut Hill shelter currently hold 279 evacuees with room for 40 more. The Tommie Allen Rec Ctr shelter currently houses 57 evacuees with room for 160 more. The new shelter opening tonight has capacity for 200 evacuees.

Rawlings said once its three shelters at capacity, they'll look to other localities in North Texas to help.

Harvey evacuees are arriving in Dallas by the hundreds choosing DFW to get as far away from the storm while staying in Texas.

On Saturday, the City of Dallas opened a second shelter to accommodate Texans getting out of Harvey's path.

As Harvey slammed into Texas Friday, Raven Radley and her boyfriend packed a suitcase to get out of Humble, near Houston.

"We got the reports in the morning that the local officials wanted us to get out, and I had never seen a message like that so I was like maybe we should listen and heed," said Radley.

Raven was staying at the the Tommie Allen Rec Center -- the second shelter opened by Dallas.

The first shelter at Walnut Hill Recreational Center was already full. Ten-year-old Jocelyn is among the 300 staying there. She and her family left Houston in such a panic, they didn't pack a thing.

"I was nervous because we left our [pet] birds, and we didn't have nothing, and we came in our car," said Jocelyn. "Everything was traffic, traffic."

At the shelter, they'll have three hot meals a day, showers and a bed.

Donations from Dallas residents were also pouring in Saturday.  So many in fact that the Walnut shelter has run out of space. The Red Cross is asking you take donations to the Trusted World at 15660 N. Dallas Parkway. The Red Cross said cash donations are best since they can tailor purchases exact needs for evacuees.

Radley said she's grateful for the donations "from the bottom of her heart."

"When there's a disaster that you're not prepared for -- and also you're working your way to saving money -- you can't stay in a hotel day after day, the only other option is this."