Local officials say they are preparing for high winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Harvey, but Mayor Ron Nirenberg appealed to as many people as possible to stay home this weekend, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"Harvey is an evolving storm, and a slight change in its path can mean a major change in the amount of rain we get, for better or for worse,' the Mayor said.
He said nearly 700 evacuees from the Coastal Bend have already been housed in shelters in San Antonio, and several more buses are on the way.
"The City has extensive staff to remove trees and damage flooding," Nirenberg said. "They will be placing barricades at all of our high water crossings."
He also predicted that trees felled by strong winds will be a major problem over the weekend.
"Even in just an inch or two of water, tires can become flotation devices in a hurry," he said, warning citizens to avoid water over roads.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff praised local officials for their work to help evacuees from the Texas coast.
"I think that is moving along very very well," he said.Both Wolff and Nirenberg said all flooded roads and barricaded low water crossings will be listed on various web pages, and urged people to call in reports of flooded streets without barricades present.
He said local hospitals have also taken in some 190 hospital patients from the Texas coast."We are all working very hard together," he said. "Lets' all use good common sense. Try not to get out on the roads and take unnecessary chances.
"He says all non essential employees will not be asked to come to work on Saturday, closing some county services like Bibliotech.
Both CPS Energy and SAWS said they have deployed crews to try to deal with utility issues caused by flooding and by downed trees, and are working hard to keep those incidents to a minimum.
"A large part of what we do is work on reliability," CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold Williams said. "We are prepared for the worst and we are hoping for the best."