‘Stay away from downtown’: City of Houston, county officials provide update following severe weather, power outages

“For some people, the lucky ones, it can take days and not hours,” Hidalgo said. “For some who have power back, it’s wonderful. But for many, many people, it will take weeks, not days.”

Whitmire said 2,500 traffic lights were not working.

“Stay away from downtown,” Whitmire said. “Stay off the road unless you are an essential worker.”

Dive Deeper

At the peak of the power outages, about 930,000 CenterPoint customers did not have electricity, Hidalgo said. This number now stands at around 740,000 customers.

“If you’re tied to transmission lines that have fallen, … restoring them can take weeks,” Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo said CenterPoint has 2,000 mutual aid teams coming to help with power restoration work, with the company trying to mobilize up to 4,000 mutual aid teams.

Houston officials also did not provide an update on the death toll, which was reported to be four as of the night of May 16.

Debris has been cleared from highways, but there may still be debris in neighborhoods, Hidalgo said.

“I think we are seeing the greatest collaboration in a time of crisis, certainly in my 50-plus years of public service,” Whitmire said. “Mutual help comes from all sides.”

Whitmire also said he had spoken to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and that the city would send technicians to Houston to help restore the streetlights.

What else?

Hidalgo said 15 Harris County libraries will be open and fully staffed to serve as cooling centers. The list of open libraries will be published on www.readyharris.org when confirmed.

Hidalgo also said there was no boil water advisory.

Brent Taylor of the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management said the only cooling center open is run by the American Red Cross in the Greenspoint area north of Houston:

• Green House International, 200 W. Greens Road, Houston

Also note

Hidalgo said the White House contacted the county’s government affairs team and the county’s request was to be able to combine this severe weather event with the flooding in early May to be able to receive individual assistance.

In a May 17 statement, Gov. Greg Abbott said his office remains in contact with local officials.

“As severe weather sweeps across the southeastern region of the state, Texas continues to deploy resources and assistance to impacted communities to keep Texans safe,” Abbott said. “Last month, I prepared the state’s emergency response resources and issued a disaster declaration. I have since amended that declaration to ensure that every community threatened by hazardous weather has access to necessary resources. The Texas Division of Emergency Management continues to support impacted communities with immediate and long-term recovery resource needs. The Public Utilities Commission of Texas is coordinating with utility providers to restore power. running in the affected areas as quickly as possible.

Published at 7:43 a.m. on May 17

Four people have been confirmed dead by authorities and thousands of residents are without power following severe weather that hit the Houston area on May 16.

What happened

Severe thunderstorms that hit the Houston area on May 16 contained wind gusts of up to 80 mph, the National Weather Service Houston-Galveston confirmed in a Facebook post.

During the worst of last night’s storms, along with severe thunderstorm warnings, the NWS issued several tornado warnings that affected area towns such as Jersey Village, Bellaire, Houston, Galena Park and Baytown.

Additionally, wind gusts around Houston reached speeds above 70 mph, according to the NWS. According to the NWS, the highest measured wind reports from May 16 include:

• 74 mph near the Houston Ship Channel
• 65 mph at Cypress
• 62 mph at Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental Airports
• 49 mph in Conroe
• 40 mph near Jersey Village

The weather also caused widespread power outages. As of 6:44 a.m. on May 17, 721,238 people were without power, according to Centerpoint’s outage tracking system.

As a result of the severe weather, school districts in the Houston metro area canceled classes or closed some campuses on May 17.

What they say

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor John Whitmire both issued statements on May 16 regarding the severe weather.

In a statement posted at 10:25 p.m. on May 16 on Facebook, Hidalgo confirmed that at least four people were believed to have died as a result of the severe weather, and she said initial reports suggested the debris from the storm appeared “very significant.”

“Our Harris County precincts and engineering department are working overnight to remove as much road debris as possible, in partnership with our cities,” Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo also said 1,500 mutual aid teams were heading to the area to help restore power.

“It appears it will take longer to restore power to residents in western our county and around Cypress, given their reliance on transmission lines, but again we will have more upgrades day (May 17),” Hidalgo said in his message. statement.

At a press conference on May 16, Whitmire emphasized that people should stay home on May 17 and that there was “considerable damage downtown.”

“The real problem we’re facing right now is traffic control,” Whitmire said. “Most traffic lights in the city are out and they will be out for considerable hours.”

During that press conference, Whitmire said the power would potentially be out for 24 to 48 hours.

“We’re in recovery mode,” Whitmire said.

Whitmire also said the city was working with county commissioners and the state was sending Department of Public Safety officers to help “secure downtown.”

“We are concerned about the dangers downtown – glass, traffic lights out – so DPS will relieve (Houston Police officers) later tonight to secure downtown, allowing HPD to pass emergency calls,” Whitmire said.

At Whitmire’s news conference, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said the city had large areas of damage and the majority of fire department calls were for gas leaks and downed wires.

“Houston Fire is participating and collaborating with all city departments, as the mayor mentioned, to ensure that we can remove some of this debris, do a proper assessment of the damaged areas and start the recovery process,” Pena said.

What else?

Hidalgo said people should call 911 if they are in danger and call 311 to report debris or downed trees.