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WASHINGTON, September 07 (KUNA) -- The Kuwaiti Embassy to the United States carried out an evacuation process of 200 Kuwaiti nationals from Houston, in a precautionary measure before Hurricane Ike lashed the Texas coast last night.
Kuwait Ambassador to Washington Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah told KUNA that the embassy was in close contact with the Kuwaiti community in Houston and concluded yesterday precautionary steps to transfer Kuwaiti nationals to safer areas in order to avoid any possible injuries.
Sheikh Salem affirmed that the embassy and all of its affiliated bureaus had been closely following for a while the evolvement of Hurricane Ike and "already prepared the necessary plans to evacuate citizens if the need arises" and noted that the decision for evacuation had been taken "in light of weather developments and the severity of the hurricane." The Kuwaiti ambassador said he spoke with officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to obtain their assessment and forecast about Hurricane Ike, as the most vulnerable areas were those on the coast, 15 miles deep in Houston.
Sheikh Salem added that local authorities in Houston had not yet declared any mandatory evacuation measures but the city could still be exposed to heavy rain, landslide and flooding. He noted that all these steps had been taken "based on the information provided by DHS" and the embassy would closely monitor the details of the evacuation process.
The Kuwaiti ambassador explained that most nationals in Houston were patients, in addition to students and soldiers. He further affirmed that the decision to evacuate a patient required careful preparations due to the medical status requiring "attention, treatment and doctors." Sheikh Salem said that Kuwaiti soldiers were inside US military bases in Houston and the embassy`s military office was in close contact with them.
"Our soldiers will be part of evacuation measures inside military bases along with US soldiers if necessary," he added.
Hurricane Ike reached the Texas coast last night, mainly in Houston and Galveston, with 110 mile-per-hour winds, closed to a Category 3 storm. Local authorities urged Texans to flee the area, yet thousands stayed behind. Late last night, authorities warned those who did not evacuate sooner to stay home, as Ike was already in action at this point.
Health Attache at the embassy Abdulrahman Al-Jawhar told KUNA that there were 69 Kuwaiti patients inside and outside hospitals in Houston, most of which were at the Anderson Cancer Center in the University of Texas, while the rest were in Saint Luke Hospital and Texas Children Hospital.
Al-Jawhar noted that Sheikh Salem and Health Minister Ali Al-Barrak were closely monitoring the situation of Kuwaiti patients in Houston and the decision taken was to keep those patients in their medical environment since their safety had been confirmed by the hospitals.
The Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington formed task forces to stay in contact with the patients and their hospitals.
The health attache said the embassy provided four buses yesterday, just hours before Ike reached Houston, to transfer the rest of the patients from Houston to Dallas where a hotel with 100 available rooms was reserved for them. However, those patients whose conditions did not allow movement had been placed in hospitals for the hurricane period.
Al-Jawhar went to say that the embassy also provided hotel accommodation inside Houston for those who lived on the ground floor in vulnerable areas, yet others simply preferred to stay where they were and not take the option of voluntary evacuation.
The embassy`s Cultural Attache Hassan Nasrallah told KUNA there were 20 Kuwaiti students in Texas, three of them were in Houston and Dallas and the rest in Dayton, far away from hurricane danger.
Nasrallah noted that the embassy suggested that the three students follow the instructions of local authorities, and assured their parents back home that they were all fine and that the embassy was in constant contact with them.

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