Houston opens 2nd convention center to evacuees

Residential neighborhoods near the Interstate 10 sit in floodwater in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on August 29, 2017 in Houston, Texas. [Photo/VCG]

8:40 pm

Just 500 cots are being added to the floor of the Toyota Center, as the nearby downtown convention center will remain the primary major shelter for evacuees of Tropical Storm Harvey.

Tom McCasland, Houston's housing and community development director, told The Associated Press Tuesday that the Toyota Center— where the NBA's Houston Rockets play — will serve as an overflow center for people still arriving Tuesday night and early Wednesday. It will only serve families with children that don't have pressing medical needs.

The George R. Brown Convention Center has an estimated 9,000 people seeking shelter. McCasland says more cots are on the way for thousands of people who didn't have one Monday night. Some people slept on towels or strips of cardboard.

He says, "We fully expect to have everyone in a cot tonight."