Texas inmates returning to two of five evacuated prison units
Inmates were headed back Monday morning to two of five prison units evacuated due to rising flood waters caused by Hurricane Harvey, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials said.
In all, nearly 6,000 prisoners had to be evacuated as the Brazos River rose to historic levels.
Monday, some 1,400 prisoners were being returned to the Jester III and Vance units in Richmond.
“There was flooding all around the facilities and outbuildings, but water did not get inside the main facilities,” said Jason Clark, a TDCJ spokesman.
The three other evacuated units — Ramsey, Stringfellow and Terrell in Brazoria County — were still being assessed Monday.
“Once they are operational and safe for staff and offenders to return, we will begin to repopulate those facilities,” TDCJ officials stated Monday in a Facebook post.
Though not evacuated, three other prison units in the Beaumont area — Stiles, Gist and LeBlanc — have been affected by damage to the city’s water system.
According to TDCJ, additional staffing and resources have been sent to the three units, including additional food, medicine, portable toilets and approximately 240,000 bottles of water.
Deanna Boyd: 817-390-7655, @deannaboyd
TDCJ has set up a 24-hour hotline at 936-437-4927 or 1-844-476-1289 for families to obtain information about an inmate.
This story was originally published September 4, 2017 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Texas inmates returning to two of five evacuated prison units."