Covid-19 is pushing Hurricane Laura evacuees to hotels instead of shelters

Hurricane Laura made landfall along the Gulf coast of the United States early Thursday morning, bringing the threat of what federal officials called “unsurvivable” flooding. Normally, most of the thousands of evacuees would be directed to traditional emergency shelters in convention centers and school gyms.

This time, inland hotels in Texas and Louisiana are preparing to host an unusually large number of evacuees—and they’re already reaching capacity.

Because of concerns about Covid-19 transmission, officials in both states are urging residents in the storm’s path to stay in hotel rooms rather than cluster in designated shelters. Texas officials have managed to set aside 225,000 hotel rooms across the state, and are scrambling to find more as they quickly fill up.

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