Harvey victims leave shelters but face dire housing needs
HOUSTON — While the number of evacuees seeking refuge in Houston’s emergency shelters dwindled 10 days after Harvey struck, many people who had left by Monday still faced dire housing needs.
Some returned to public housing complexes inundated with sewage and mud. More than 50,000 went to government-paid hotels, some far away from homes and schools. Others moved in with family and friends.
Harvey did not discriminate, inundating exclusive neighbourhoods and low-lying apartments for the poor, and was blamed for at least 60 deaths. Most of the evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center were lower-income, but some were from wealthier areas.
Now, about 1,500 remain at the convention centre, and several said they were homeless, disabled or from public housing. About 2,800 were at the NRG Center, another convention centre that opened after George R. Brown reached double its original capacity.