(Texas) Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall by early Saturday morning along the upper Texas Coast. The Southwest region has numerous National Wildlife Refuge System facilities, two ecological services offices in Clear Lake and Corpus Christi and several Law Enforcement offices that are closed due to the impending hurricane. Service personnel began preparing for emergency evacuations and closure operations as early as Tuesday of this week. Storm surges, hurricane force winds and widespread flooding are expected to severely impact many areas.
All Service facilities in the path of the hurricane have been secured and are closed to the public until further notice. Acting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Regional Director Larry Bell said, "The safety of our employees and their families is our first priority. They?ve secured our facilities and now they need to seek safety for themselves and their families."
Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge near Austin will serve as a temporary staging area for a Type 3 Southwest Region Incident Command Team whose role will be to provide support to coastal facilities following the hurricane. The Regional Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico is operating a Command Center to provide support to the Team, affected staff and facilities.
