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As a result of rolling brownouts, frozen pipes and travel hampered by the winter storm, an emergency shelter has been set up at Marble Falls First United Methodist Church, 1101 Bluebonnet Dr. Contributed
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been changed to reflect the relocation of the Marble Falls emergency shelter to First United Methodist Church.
UPDATE: As of 3 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 16, Kingsland Baptist Church, 3435 Ranch Rd 1431, has opened an emergency shelter location in the facility's education room. The venue will offer a sleeping area, coffee and food.
Marble Falls residents have a chance to get in out of the cold if suffering from potentially dangerous or life-threatening winter weather conditions due to lack of heat and essentials, officials said.
As a result of longterm and rolling outages, frozen pipes and travel hampered by the winter storm, an emergency shelter has been set up at Marble Falls First United Methodist Church, 1101 Bluebonnet Dr.
An initial shelter was setup on Feb. 15 at the local middle school. "Due to circumstances beyond our control," the site was moved to the church, according to an announcement by the city of Marble Falls on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Loss of power for extended periods of time have plagued the Highland Lakes area since that time.
The city’s emergency operations center is working with Highland Lakes Crisis Center to provide essential services and resources for residents when they arrive.
“While citizens are encouraged to stay at home, loss of power for an extended time frame can be extremely unsafe,” according to a statement from the city of Marble Falls.
If residents need to get to the shelter, emergency officials ask them to “use extreme caution as road conditions are still dangerous.
“Travel is not recommended unless it is an emergency,” the statement continued.
Recommendations include bringing blankets and/or sleeping bags. The original location allowed pets. According to the the city statement, pets are prohibited at the church shelter location.
“The purpose of the shelter is the prevention of death and injury from exposure to the elements,” the city release stated.
Officials cautioned that due to the unpredictability of power issues, those at the shelter may experience temporary outages at the facility as well.
In Llano County, official have established the First Baptist Church of Llano, 107 W. Luce, as an emergency public shelter.
Due to power issues in Kingsland and the Buchanan Dam area, officials were unable to secure a location for the east side of the county.
In Burnet, a public emergency shelter has been established at the VFW Post 6974, 1402 Buchanan Dr. Organizers ask residents to please call (512) 588-6070 if you need assistance.