TxDOT ready to help in disaster areas

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Texas Department of Transportation is ready to help in the disaster areas and evacuation zones after Hurricane Harvey makes landfall.

TxDOT crews from Fort Worth left on Thursday and then again Friday morning. The department is sending teams from across the state to the coast with heavy machinery.

Once the storm makes landfall, they will be able to move in and clear the roadways of debris so emergency responders can get through.

TxDOT crews in San Antonio are also running courtesy patrols along the highway to assist drivers with food and water.

The team in Yoakum, which is about 100 miles north of Corpus Christi, shared a picture of people filling fuel cubes for other teams and for the first responders who will need it.

Meanwhile, all non-essential military aircraft from the Corpus Christi area were flown to Fort Worth Thursday to ride out the hurricane.

A captain overseeing the efforts said the procedure is pretty familiar. The Fort Worth base is designed to accommodate aircraft from all military branches of service and there are semiannual drills to train for just this sort of thing.

Also, workers from an animal shelter are helping animals affected by Hurricane Harvey. The team is now in Austin at an animal care center to meet with staff. The plan is to transport the animals to shelters across the DFW Metroplex.