Sheriff: Residents still in Matagorda Co. are on their own during Hurricane Harvey
MATAGORDA, Texas (KTRK) -- If you didn't leave, you are on your own.
That is the warning by Matagorda County Judge Nate McDonald, who called for a mandatory evacuation of more than 36,000 residents at midnight.
Residents had until 10 a.m. to get out. Now a roadblock on Highway 2031 is keeping people from getting onto Matagorda Peninsula.
The sheriff was adamant that people take this warning seriously, expecting many to flee before the 10 a.m. deadline.
WATCH: Winds and rain picking up in Matagorda County
For those who didn't, Sheriff Skipper Osborne said not to expect to be rescued later on.
"I am not gonna send a boat down there after we ask you to leave," Osborne said. "I'm not going to put one of my deputy's lives on the line to go down there and get you out."
Buildings and homes are boarded up, and in some areas, it is a ghost town.
The city offered assistance to those who needed help with evacuations. Residents boarded buses destined for shelters in New Braunfels, carrying with them their identification, medications, toiletries, snacks and clothing.
Everything else was left behind, hours before the heavy winds and rain were expected to strike the middle Texas coast.
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