East Texans Prepare for Hurricane Harvey

EAST TEXAS — First responders in East Texas are headed south to help people in the direct path of Hurricane Harvey. KETK reports ETMC EMS and the Emergency Medical Task Force are preparing to evacuate residents and save lives. One by one, the ambulances rolled out Thursday afternoon. Public safety preparation for Hurricane Harvey also highlighted news at Longview City Hall on Thursday. According to the Longview News-Journal, Fire Chief J.P. Steelman said at least nine Longview firefighters have been deployed to South Texas locations for statewide emergency response. Meanwhile, said Steelman, local chiefs have held conference calls with state emergency leaders.

The traffic of coastal residents fleeing the storm has already had an impact as far north as Nacogdoches. TxDOT shut down College Drive to all through traffic at U.S. Highway 59. Highway 59 south will be green-light only to the northbound and southbound lanes in order to keep traffic moving. Around 3:00pm traffic was reportedly backed up from the College Drive intersection to Garden of Memories.