BASTROP, TEXAS - The number of homes destroyed by a Texas wildfire has risen to 1,554 and is expected to increase as firefighters enter more areas where the blaze has been extinguished, officials said Sunday. Seventeen people are still missing.
Wildfires have claimed over 1,500 Texas homes
Bastrop County officials, joined by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, told some 100 residents who gathered at a news conference on Sunday that people could begin going back into scorched areas on Monday.
A detailed plan will allow residents to slowly enter the evacuated areas over the coming week as firefighters and emergency responders ensure the land has properly cooled, hot spots are extinguished and the blaze is contained.
Tensions and frustrations boiled over at a similar gathering on Saturday when residents demanded to be allowed to return to their neighborhoods to see what remains of their homes and attempt to salvage a few belongings. Many people were given only minutes to evacuate as the raging blaze surrounded homes and neighborhoods. Some had time to only gather a few important belongings. Others left with only the clothes on their back.
The federal government on Friday declared Texas a disaster area, paving the way for individuals to get financial aid. Doggett said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will incur 75 percent of the costs of fighting the fires, and families will be eligible for up to $30,000 to pay for expenses not covered by insurance policies, such as hotel bills, temporary housing and even construction costs.
"The $30,000 can only go so far toward the expenses that some of you have," Doggett said. "But I think it can be a lot of assistance."
On Monday, schools will open for the first time since the Bastrop blaze erupted. So many people are living in the town's Super 8, Best Western and Holiday Inn that school buses will stop at all three.
ASSOCIATED PRESS