Be a Hero

How you can help West, Texas

A deadly fertilizer plant explosion rocked West, Texas, a small community north of Waco on Wednesday evening. Below, you will find information you need to know, including organizations accepting donations as this story continues to develop.

Organizations accepting donations:

Red Cross of Central Texas
Salvation Army - Austin
IN AUSTIN: The Blood Center of Central Texas is taking donations by appointment only. If you have type O-Negative blood, you are asked to make an appointment to donate. There currently is enough blood to keep the center stocked. Follow them on Twitter at @CentralTXBlood or click here for more information.
IN AUSTIN: KVUE is partnering with Randalls and the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fundto aid victims. Those who wish to donate may visit their local Randalls and add money to a scan card. The donation is conveniently added to your grocery purchase. Donations will be taken at Houston-area Randalls and Dallas-area Tom Thumbs as well.
IN AUSTIN: Ryno Moving is accepting donations of water, blankets, clothes, food, baby supplies, etc. Call (512) 740-4114 or (512) 773-9344 or e-mailrynomoving@gmail.com.
IN AUSTIN: The Austin Disaster Relief Network is receiving donations for survivors. To make a tax-deductible gift go towww.adrntx.org and follow the link on the homepage under Current News. If mailing donation, please send to: Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN), P.O. Box 3817, Cedar Park, Texas 78630, Attn: West Texas Fund
IN AUSTIN: Benefit for West, Texas will be held Sunday, April 28 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at la Barbecue located at 1502 S. 1st St., in Austin. Cash donations for West will be accepted. Click here for more information.
IN AUSTIN: The League Kitchen and Tavern in Lakeway will accept donations of clothes, blankets and bottled water this weekend. Location: 1310 RR 620.
IN AUSTIN: Sunday April 21 donations will be accepted by Bastrop's Phoenix Farms at the Mueller famers market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. It's located at 4550 Mueller, Austin, 78723. Will be accepting canned food, can openers, diapers, baby wipes, pet food, dried fruit, protein bars, bottled water. Click here for more information.
IN AUSTIN: Affiance Insurance Agency is taking donations of any type that's needed. It's located at 5555 North Lamar Suite L101, 78751. Business hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Call 512-284-9051 or click here for more information.
IN AUSTIN: uShip is collecting donations at its downtown Austin location at 205 Brazos Street. Immediate donations can be dropped Thursday until 7:30 p.m. and Friday April 19 from 9 a.m. to noon. Click here for a list of requested donations.
IN AUSTIN: Mattress Firm stores are accepting donations of food items, children's needs, toiletries and anything else. Drop items off at any Mattress Firm in the Dallas, Austin, Houston and Waco areas April 19-April 21. For more information click here. To donate money click here.
IN AUSTIN: Project Suite Pea will hold a donation drive Sunday 12-6 p.m. at the Hill Country Galleria. Items needed: Water, non-parishable food, clothes, baby items, flashlights, blankets, pillows, toiletries, toys, adult diapers, medical supplies, dog and cat food.
IN ROUND ROCK: Scott & White Round Rock Clinic is hosting a blood drive Tuesday April 23 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at 302 University BlvdRound Rock, TX 78664. To sign up to donate contact The Blood Donor Center at 877-724-4376. Click here for donor eligibility information.
IN ROUND ROCK: Great American Storage and Post Office is accepting clothing and water. It's located at 16450 RR 620 N Round Rock, TX 78681. Contact phone: 512-248-1518.
IN TEMPLE: Donate blood at the Scott & White Blood Center - Temple. It will be open until 7 p.m. Thursday April 18 and 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Friday April 19. As the community will continue to need blood donations throughout the coming weeks, area donors are urged to find an upcoming blood drive by clicking here.
IN THORNDALE: Scott and White is hosting a blood drive Sunday April 21 from 8 a.m.-noon at St. Paul Lutheran, 101 N. 3rd/Hwy 79 Thorndale, TX 76577. To sign up to donate contact The Ministry Office at 512-924-0151. Click here for donor eligibility information.
IN FLORENCE: The Florence Fire Department will be hosting a boot drive on Saturday, April 20 at 8:30 a.m.
IN KYLE: Donations of new toiletries, trash bags, school supplies, blankets, non-perishable foods, Gatorade and water can be dropped off at Kyle City Hall this weekend (10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday).
Point West Bank - drop off or send to 200 West Oak Street, West 76691
The Extraco Events Center will be setting up to take donations starting at 9 am on Thursday. For information, call (254) 776-1660.
Both Peas & Tots and Smarty Pants consignment stores in Waco are accepting clothing donations in all sizes for those in West.
Axtell High School will be taking any kind of donations at the school on Thursday. Please donate anything. the PALS organization is taking all donations and will be accepting tomorrow and Friday during school.
ESPN 1660 AM is taking donations at their Bagby Ave. location
IN FLORENCE: Florence Fire Department is hosting a boot drive on Saturday, April 20 from 8 a.m. All proceeds will go to the relief fund for the victims of West.
Life Church of Mesquite will be in the area to volunteer with clean up efforts. They will also bring donations.

Helpful information:

Safe and Well People Finder: Register your name to let others know you are safe
Prayers for West Facebook page
Power outage information from Oncor
To check on patients admitted to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, call (254) 202-1100
For family inquiries about patients at Scott & White Hospital, call (888) 394-4947
For family inquiries about patients at Providence Health Center, call (254) 761-7200
Hillcrest Hospital patient information hotline: 254-202-1100 (KWTX News 10)
Most critical patients to Hillcrest Baptist in Waco, followed by Providence Hospital.
Family members worried about loved ones can call (254) 202-1100 at Hillcrest. Call (888) 394-4947 for information on family members at Scott & White.

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millennial magnet cities

Austin has fallen out of favor with millennials for 2025, report shows

Downtown Austin, state capital, Congress Avenue

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

Don't worry, you'll still find plenty of millennials on scooters downtown.

Millennial Austinites may be growing tired of the city's consistently changing landscape: Austin has once again fallen out from the coveted No. 1 spot in SmartAsset's annual report of "Cities Attracting the Most Millennials" in 2025.

In fact, Austin barely scraped into the top 10 and ranked No. 9 this year, just like it did in SmartAsset's 2023 report.

The 2025 study dug into data from the U.S. Census Bureau 1-Year American Community Survey to determine the number of millennials who moved to 271 U.S. cities in 2023 (where the most recent data is available). Rankings were determined by the percentage of the total population of millennials who moved into each city in 2023.

A total of 103,738 millennial transplants landed in the capital of Texas in 2023, according to the study's findings, bringing the city's total millennial-age population to 395,776. That means about 41 percent of the city's entire population is made up of people aged between 25 and 44.

Breaking that down further, the report found that the number of millennials who moved to Austin from elsewhere in Travis County was more than double those who moved from other Texas counties: 55,591 and 21,403, respectively. In addition, 19,890 millennials moved in from a different state, and 6,854 moved in from abroad.

SmartAsset also unveiled that the average household income of a millennial Austinite is $91,501 annually, and their total median housing costs add up to $1,828 per month.

While the report doesn't give a reason why millennials favored other cities over Austin, the city's housing prices, job market, and family planning prospects can all have an influence.

"Millennials are often in their prime earning years, and many have young families, which may significantly impact the communities they join and leave," the study said.

In a separate 2024 report by commercial real estate platform CommercialCafe, Austin was crowned the No. 1 city for millennials.

Alexandria, Virginia, is the No. 1 millennial magnet for 2025 with the highest proportional influx of millennial transplants in 2023, at 12.67 percent. For context, Austin's share of new millennials was only 10.69 percent.

Austin was the highest ranked Texas city in the report, with Houston ranking second statewide but 51st overall. Houston had a far higher influx of millennial newcomers in 2023, at nearly 177,000 transplants, but the share of new millennials that moved in as a percentage of the total population was lower than Austin's, at just 7.7 percent.

The top 10 magnet cities for millennials in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Alexandria, Virginia
No. 2 – Cambridge, Massachusetts
No. 3 – Denver, Colorado
No. 4 – Sandy Springs, Georgia
No. 5 – Seattle, Washington
No. 6 – Sunnyvale, California
No. 7 – Santa Clara, California
No. 8 – Arlington, Virginia
No. 9 – Austin, Texas
No. 10 – Orlando, Florida

austin millennials reports smartasset