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Dallas County Prepares for Gustav Evacuees DALLAS, TX (KERA) - Gustav has the Texas Gulf coast on alert. Governor Rick Perry has put 5,000 National Guard troops on standby, and issued disaster declarations for 61 counties ahead of Gustav's arrival. The storm is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane as it passes over the warm Gulf waters this weekend.

If Gustav becomes the major Category Three hurricane forecasters predict, and if the storm slams the Texas or Louisiana coasts, evacuees could come streaming into North Texas. The likely scenario would be reminiscent of three years ago today when Katrina blasted ashore and the levees broke in New Orleans.

Dallas County Health Department Director Zack Thompson says they're getting ready, mindful of lessons learned from Katrina.

Thompson: We've put in place our Dallas County Medical Reserve Corps. These are volunteer physicians and nurses. They're on standby if we need to call them in to assist with any type of disease detection that may happen in the shelters. So the critical part is the sheltering. So one of the things our assessment is to make sure we have enough showers, restroom facilities, hand sanitizer. These are just critical aspects.

Gustav is expected to make landfall this Tuesday. © Copyright 2009, KERA