Authorities went door-to-door twice Wednesday once again asking residents of a Northwest Dallas neighborhood to evacuate their homes amid ongoing natural gas issues in the area.
The new precautionary evacuation was ordered for residents of 30 homes located on the 9800 block of Bowman Boulevard, the 9900 block of Bowman, the 9900 Chireno Street, with Dallas Fire-Rescue officials joining Atmos Energy crews in notifying residents at about 2 a.m.
Later in the day around 1:30 p.m. they went door to door again in the 3800 block of Cortez and 3800 block of Wembdon.
Several residents were scrambling to pack up and leave at least an hour after that.
“Just try to think of everything you need. I don’t know. I don’t even know what to say right now," said Santos Pineda.
Pineda's family will now join nearly 500 others who've been evacuated from their homes. Many have been in hotels since this weekend.
"We just received a knock on the door saying we have to go because of a gas leak. So we left. They didn’t really tell us how long it was going to take, so we just took our wallet, our keys. When we realized they were kicking us out of the property, we grabbed our pets and left but without any clothes," said Iris Rocha.
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NBC 5 has reached out to Atmos for more information on what prompted the latest evacuations.
Atmos Energy did release this media statement at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Here are the latest details as of 5:00 p.m. Wednesday of Atmos Energy’s work in restoring service to Northwest Dallas neighborhoods.
By late afternoon:
• Evacuation has been lifted for Dallas Fire Station #43
• Service has been restored to 80 homes
• 182 homes and a 90-unit apartment complex currently are evacuated
Latest areas evacuated, affecting about 38 homes:
• 3800 block of Cortez (even addresses)
• 3800 block Wemdon (odd)
• 3900 block of Wembdon (odd)
Previous and still current evacuation areas:
• 3700 Matador Drive (odd and even addresses)
• 3700 block of Park (odd addresses)
• 3700 block of Rockdale (even houses)
• 9800 block Bowman (odd)
• 9900 block of Bowman (odd and Even)
• 9900 block Chireno (odd)
• Chapel Creek Apartments – 90 units
Atmos Energy has expanded its safety boundaries for surveying:
• Forest to the north
• Webb Chapel to the west
• Lenel to the east
• Northwest Highway to the south
Atmos Energy is going door to door restoring natural gas service to the following areas:
• 3500 Block (even) Gaspar & 3500 block (odd) Fontana
• 3600 Block (even) Gaspar & 3600 block (odd) Fontana
• 3600 Block (even) Cortez & 3600 block (odd) Bolivar
• 3700 Block (even) Cortez & 3700 block (odd) Bolivar
• 3600 Block (even) Bolivar & 3600 block (odd) Almazan
• 9500 Block & 9600 Block Larga
Amount of cash cards distributed so far to evacuated families to cover personal expenses: More than $170,000
Atmos Energy Affected North Dallas Resident Map (Text)
The latest area of concern is less than a mile from the home that exploded last week, killing 12-year-old Linda Rogers.
The early morning evacuations came just hours after the city and Atmos hosted a community meeting where hundreds packed the auditorium at Foster Elementary School to hear solutions to the natural gas leaks. Some in attendance said they have felt alarmed seeing Atmos crews near their homes and suggested Atmos can better communicate what crews are doing and where they are headed next.
"How can we trust ya'll? My friend barely made it out alive. That's my question to ya'll," asked one man in the audience. "How are you going to change this and fix this?"
On Tuesday, 60 homes on the 3700 block of Matador Drive, the 3700 block of Park Lane, the 3700 block of Rockdale Drive and the Chapel Creek Apartments were evacuated.
Dallas Fire Station 43 was also ordered to close Tuesday evening, with firefighters and paramedics relocated to nearby stations.
Atmos has been repairing older gas lines and repairing leaks in the area since the deadly explosion. The utility company has offered lodging for evacuated residents. Evacuees can contact Atmos at 972-964-4191.
