As Texas morgues fill up, refrigerator trucks are on the way in several counties
Austin and Travis County are “in the process of procuring a refrigerated truck to face the surge in COVID-19 deaths,” Travis County public information officer Hector Nieto said.
The mobile morgue will be placed where there “is space for it” and where it is needed the most, whether closer to hospitals or to the county morgue. Nieto could not confirm when the unit will arrive.
Cameron County is also preparing for a worst-case scenario and bought a 53-foot refrigerated trailer in case morgues become full, Juan Martinez, the local emergency management department’s operations section chief
told The Valley Morning Star.
Hidalgo County
also said on Friday that they will share a refrigerated FEMA trailer with neighboring Cameron County.
In Houston, a spokeswoman at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences insisted that no extra capacity is needed at the county morgue right now. But individual hospitals are also counting on refrigerated trucks to expand their morgue’s capacity. HCA Healthcare Northwest confirmed
to the Houston Chronicle that a refrigerated trailer is being used as temporary storage before the transfer from the hospital to funeral homes.
Gravell also said such preparations are “the part of the story no one wants to talk about.”
“It’s difficult, complicated and incredibly painful for families,” he said.
