WACO, Texas — *Video of the Waco mayor is courtesy of the City of Waco and comes from their COVID-19 meeting.
Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall Wednesday night and families across the area have left and made it to Waco to wait out the storm.
"I guess for the past 40 years when we run from a hurricane, we come to Waco," West Columbia resident Thomas Lester said.
Many who have evacuated cities near Texas' coast are not sure what they could go home to find.
"For us, it's really hard. I just lost my husband in March," Nederland resident Jennifer Hays said. "It's really hard for us because we don't know what we're going to back home to if we're even going to have anything to go home to."
Some families that left had to leave a loved one behind, like Port Neches resident Amy Terrell.
"My husband is a sheriff's deputy where we live, so he had to stay behind," Terrell said.
Hotels in the area have felt the impact and have seen a major jump in their capacity numbers.
"We're at the point where we're going to be at capacity, so that's about 85% increase within a few hours on Sunday," La Quinta General Manager Joshue Pursche said.
The Hilton in Waco started getting calls on Monday. They were going to be in the low 20th percentile for occupancy. On Tuesday, they were at 85%.
"Tonight we'll be sold out. Thursday night will be sold out and most likely Friday as well," Director of Sales Stu Arledege said.
During a press conference regarding COVID-19, Mayor Kyle Deaver said they wanted to welcome evacuees. He said they need them to abide by rules in Texas regarding the coronavirus.
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