FEMA sends mortuary trucks to Texas as state prepares for more deaths
Noah Higgins-Dunn
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending 14 refrigerated trucks that can serve as temporary mortuaries to Texas next week as local officials and funeral homes brace for a surge in deaths from Covid-19, which has already killed 3,657 people in the state. The state doesn’t yet need the additional mortuary trucks, said Seth Christensen, a spokesman for the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The trucks, along with eight that were previously sent, are on standby in case local municipalities get overrun with Covid-19 deaths.
Deaths and hospitalizations haven’t risen as quickly in recent weeks, but epidemiologists say that’s because it can take a while after someone is diagnosed before they are hospitalized and die. Texas was averaging 93 deaths per day on Thursday, based on a seven-day average, up from around 20 deaths per day a month ago, according to Hopkins.
“The directors I’ve talked to in the last week are at capacity or over capacity, thus the reason they had to bring in the trailers,” said Gene Allen, president of the Texas Funeral Directors Association. The Texas Funeral Directors group has sent three of its four refrigerated trucks, typically used during hurricane season, to South Texas already, he said. |
