What Is Texas Doing With The 4,500 Inmates Displaced By Harvey?

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Texas evacuated 4,500 inmates from three prisons in the wake of Hurricane Harvey after the facilities faced heavy flooding and probable damage, officials told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) evacuated the 4,500 inmates on Saturday from facilities in Rosharon, approximately 40 miles south of Houston. The area is under heavy flooding from the nearby Brazos River, which has continued to rise at an alarming rate since category 4 Hurricane Harvey tore through the Houston area Friday night. Officials have no idea how long inmates will need to be held in alternative facilities, and flooding has prevented them from assessing the damage to the three original facilities, the TDCJ told TheDCNF

The TDCJ organized buses to ferry facility inmates, guards, and staff out of the flooded buildings in a heavily-guarded operation throughout Saturday. The prison facilities had been fortified against flooding with sandbags, but with parts of the surrounding area covered in several feet of water, the buildings will almost certainly be damaged.

Residents affected by the storm are evacuating themselves as well. William Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told reporters that the agency expects 30,000 people to be housed in shelters as emergency crews continue piecing together the extent of the damage in the Houston area.

Despite the damage, there have still been only five reported deaths directly related to Harvey. Rosharon residents and local media tweeted out pictures and footage of the extensive flooding throughout the weekend.

For security reasons, the department declined to say which East Texas units will be accommodating the displaced inmates.

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