"God Bless Texas."

That's what one evacuee said with tears in her eyes as she reached Austin. Hot meal. Shower. And a safe place to stay. That's overwhealming to someone who someone who has been through hell and back.

So far, Texas has about 250K evacuees, and has aprox. 250 shelters open state-wide. We're just about at capacity, and Gov. Perry has asked the feds to start sending people elsewhere.

Planes have been arriving in Austin all day today. We're going to accept 5,000 people. Houston is stepping up to the plate in a big way, and will end up with over 30,000 evacuees. My wife is from Houston, and she's proud. Heaven, hell, or Houston? Not today.

Donations are flowing in at record pace, but there will be the need for more. We are going end up housing these people for a long time, and we're going to have to rebuild their lives from stratch. More donations are needed. Dig deep. Your country needs you.

Today was a good day to be a Texan. Not many states can instantly generate shelter for a quarter of a million people. Hell, not many countries can do that. It illustrates what good planning can do, and I feel good about our own hurricane plans.

God bless Texas, indeed.

I'll be in the city/county EOC again tommorow so I'll post more updates. No word on whether or not I'm going to the disaster zone. My boss is tired of me asking...so I'll ask some more.