Red Cross: More than 17K Texans seeking shelter

Displaced South Houston residents Oralia Guerra and Diamond Robinson huddle together to stay warm underneath Red Cross blankets at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey. Floodwaters reached the rooflines of single-story homes Monday and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as Harvey poured rain on the Houston area for a fourth consecutive day after a chaotic weekend of rising water and rescues. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Displaced South Houston residents Oralia Guerra and Diamond Robinson huddle together to stay warm underneath Red Cross blankets at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey. Floodwaters reached the rooflines of single-story homes Monday and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as Harvey poured rain on the Houston area for a fourth consecutive day after a chaotic weekend of rising water and rescues. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) -The American Red Cross says there are more than 17,000 people in Texas seeking refuge in shelters.

Red Cross spokesman Don Lauritzen said Tuesday that there are 45 shelters in the Houston area, along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. He says more are opening in Louisiana.

The shelter in Texas holding the most people is the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston with upward of 9,000.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said Tuesday that the cavernous Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in that city is ready to hold upward of 5,000 people.

But Rawlings says it's not clear how many people will be housed at the Hutchison center because of the difficulty those in the Houston area are having finding dry roads and highways to travel along.

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