Hurricane Harvey brought an unprecedented amount of damage and devastation to Texas. As Houston and other cities in southeast Texas deal with the flooding left behind, many people were evacuated to other cities. According to a recent Dallas Morning News story, evacuees have been arriving by buses and planes for shelter in Dallas, and many may end up becoming permanent residents.

The arrival of the evacuees has not gone according to schedule. Originally, the city prepared to accept 6,500 evacuees to stay at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. However, the arrival of evacuees was much slower than anticipated, and the city considered scaling back on the shelter.

As of Wednesday, September 6, a total of 3,532 people were registered as staying at the mega-shelter, according to the Dallas Morning News. Refugees are still arriving from multiple locations, including approximately 500 people who came from Shreveport and Alexandria, Louisiana. 

Fort Worth also welcomed some refugees from Harvey, according to a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In addition to the registered evacuees, many people chose to evacuate on their own and may not be officially countable. 

Hurricane Katrina, whose floodwaters devastated New Orleans in 2005, caused many people to be displaced to other cities, including Houston. Many of those people stayed in Houston since they were unable to return to their flood-damaged homes. The same may be true with the refugees from Harvey as well. In that scenario, the housing market in North Texas would be affected.

The effects of the hurricane are still being measured and dealt with, and official numbers are not yet known about how many people are staying in North Texas on either a temporary or permanent basis.