Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo Holds Briefing About Hurricane Beryl As Texas Coast Is Hit By Storm
County Judge Lina Hidalgo holds a press briefing about Hurricane Beryl.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'm here with Chief Christensen from the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.
00:05We have Jeff Linder, our meteorologist with the Flood Control District, Paul Locke, Director
00:10of Local Government Relations for CenterPoint, and Mark Sloan, Emergency Management Coordinator.
00:18We all lived through this morning.
00:19We saw how scary it was.
00:22Thankfully, on the sides of storm surge and flooding from the rain and flooding from the
00:30channels and bayous, things turned out a little bit better than we expected.
00:35In terms of the wind damage, it's a pretty bad situation, as you all know, when it comes
00:41to power.
00:43And so we're actively working on that.
00:46I know CenterPoint is, and for our part, making sure that there's the resources for the community
00:54as relates to that.
00:56We're still seeing, though, significant street flooding today.
01:00So it's still not safe for the rest of the day to leave, to the extent that you can.
01:07We're asking folks to stay home or where they are.
01:10We are beginning our initial assessments right now.
01:13And once we have additional information, we'll let people know.
01:16So things are calming down.
01:18We are going to continue to see improvement as Beryl, as a center, continues to move away
01:23from us.
01:24We can't rule out some rain, but nothing like this morning.
01:28I did speak with my counterparts in the more affected communities where we saw the flood
01:32gauges get higher.
01:35And from what we have so far from communications with other jurisdictions, it's a similar story.
01:41A few homes flooded, just a couple inches of water.
01:47But really, it was a very limited number.
01:51And a lot of trees down, people without power.
01:54Same with our neighboring counties.
01:56The bayous that are up, whether it be Braze, White Oak, Buffalo, are really high.
02:01They're going to keep going down in the next few hours.
02:06They drain pretty quickly.
02:08In terms of Attucks and Barker, they seem fine.
02:14I'll let Jeff add anything afterwards if there's any additional news.
02:19But the Army Corps has given us an update.
02:21We've been in touch with them.
02:22They're releasing water into Buffalo Bayou just because we are in hurricane season.
02:27And let's hope not.
02:28But certainly, it's possible we could have another heavy rain, and we want to make sure
02:32there's enough room in there.
02:34But it's not causing any kind of additional flooding or anything like that that could
02:40impact structures.
02:43We've been in touch with them, looking at whether the water could at some point impact
02:48Highway 6 or those roads that go through.
02:52But so far, it looks good.
02:55The heat, obviously, is the big problem.
02:58So it's going to be very hot.
03:00It's going to be very humid.
03:01The heat index, like what we've seen the past few weeks, so the power continues to
03:08be the main threat.
03:10So far, we've not heard, thankfully, of any additional casualties beyond the gentleman
03:15who died in Humble and the lady in Spring.
03:20In terms of rescues, we have had a total of 47 high-water rescues in Harris County.
03:26That's a good number.
03:27I mean, we don't like anybody having to get rescued.
03:29We don't want to put first responders at risk.
03:32But given that we had a hurricane barrel through, hurricane barrel barrel through, it's really
03:38not as high as it could be.
03:41So 32 of those have been done by Harris County agencies, 15 rescues by City of Houston agencies.
03:49We are at increased readiness, or excuse me, at Level 1 still until later today.
03:55And around maybe 6 o'clock, we'll evaluate the possibility of going to Level 3 increased
04:00readiness just because the threat, obviously the main threat, has passed and the flood
04:05threat remains.
04:07So that's what we're waiting for it to recede.
04:11Closures in Harris County, same as yesterday.
04:14Tax office is closed, courts are closed, clerk's office is closed.
04:18We'll have folks work from home.
04:20There are 2.2 million people without power in the Centerpoint service area in the region.
04:26Around 1.6 million in Harris County without power.
04:30So as expected, more people lost power than during the derecho.
04:36That 2.2 million is a huge chunk of the service area.
04:39So I mean, it really, we all know the vast majority of us are without power.
04:46Good news there, and we'll hear more from Paul Locke if people have questions, is as
04:52you know, they had requested 7,000 crews to come down from around the country.
04:57And we already have several here.
04:58So we were at over 10,000 crews that were going to come.
05:03Last time, it took some time for the folks from outside our area to get down here.
05:09This time, I'm told there will be boots on the ground, these 7,000 crews will be here
05:15in the region working on our lines, working on our poles, and working to do as much as
05:23possible to address the power issue.
05:26There will also be, according to Centerpoint, a clearer picture of the timeline by sometime
05:34tomorrow.
05:35So like last time, you'll remember they said, okay, for everybody who's not impacted by
05:39a transmission tower, they should be back within this long, and everybody else, it'll
05:44be longer, or if it was your own weatherhead or whatever.
05:49So we'll have, they're planning to have an answer like that with a timetable at some
05:54point tomorrow.
05:57With the help of first responders, both our engineering department and our fire marshal's
06:01office are beginning initial assessments.
06:03Those are important for us to see if we can reach the thresholds to achieve federal support
06:09for our residents.
06:11And also, you know, there may be government buildings impacted, there may be roads that
06:15we really need to clear, et cetera.
06:18We are touching base at the staff level as well with all of our 34 cities in Harris County.
06:24And as I said, I reached out to several of my counterparts, mayors and county judges
06:29in the more impacted areas.
06:31First responders are reporting decreases in rescue calls, so that, again, mirrors the
06:36fact that the water is receding.
06:40State assets are here, task forces from the state are here for water rescues.
06:46And on the sheltering side, we're actively working to set up shelters.
06:53It's going to take a little bit of time.
06:55We don't want them open today because we don't want people driving.
06:59But as soon as we can do the health evaluation of the shelter, we can make sure there's space
07:05for pets, we will inform the public about where they are.
07:08I know that there are a lot of medically fragile people in our community, whether it be a health
07:15reason or age or whatever it is.
07:18I want to make sure that those who depend on power for their physical well-being more
07:26than just the comfort, that they know they can receive help.
07:31So if you are medically fragile, dependent on power, if you're on the steer list, you
07:38will be receiving calls.
07:40The teams are working very hard to call through the list where folks have pre-registered and
07:45informed that they are medically fragile.
07:47So for example, we'll call if we hear that you have an issue with oxygen, we'll figure
07:51out a way to get you some, we'll figure out a way to do a wellness check.
07:55If you're not registered with the steer program, we ask that you call 2-1-1.
07:59If you call 2-1-1, you get a whole roster of nonprofit organizations, including the
08:03Red Cross, our community services department, that can help you access similar resources.
08:09And then once we have shelters, those who want to come will be more than welcome and
08:13will be able to support that too.
08:17What people need to do, we're not out of the woods yet.
08:20I know it's night and day with how it is right now compared to what we had earlier this morning.
08:27But we do ask that you stay where you are for the rest of the day, unless you really
08:31have to go out.
08:32I mean, you can go nearby and check on a neighbor, but that's about it.
08:36And here's why.
08:37There are a lot of hazards out there.
08:39There's debris, there's water.
08:42Sometimes you won't know until you turn that there's high water that you now can't back away from.
08:47We've all been seeing those cars drive into high water.
08:49So don't be one of them.
08:51Don't put yourself at risk.
08:53Later on tonight, the water will recede further, which is good news.
08:56But perhaps some of you have already seen in the news, you know, the cables dangling
09:00from the lampposts, a lot of lights out, a lot of stoplights are out.
09:04If you see a stoplight that is out, treat it as a four-way stop.
09:09So at night, it'll be even harder to see the hazards.
09:12And so let's just wait until tomorrow.
09:16Doing a damage assessment on your own property is one thing.
09:19Driving around unnecessarily, we really ask that you avoid it.
09:25So as we move through the next few days, the biggest threat, ground hazards and lack of
09:30power.
09:32And as people begin to recover, we always want to share our price gouging hotline.
09:39So if you work with an individual or an entity that you believe is trying to take advantage
09:44of this disaster, please report them so that it doesn't happen to somebody else.
09:50The way to report them is to visit readyharris.org or to call 346-354-7459.
09:58346-354-7459.
10:02I hope folks know that we're here.
10:06We're working through this.
10:08I know everyone's doing everything they can to try to get the power back.
10:11On the sheltering side, I do think we need to count our blessings right now in terms
10:16of the limited impact from the storm surge, from the flooding.
10:20We'll be supporting as best we can those that had flooding in their homes.
10:25Right now, we don't know exactly who that is.
10:29And for everybody else, let's just try to test our patience there with the lack of power.
10:35For folks who don't have power, it's very uncomfortable.
10:38It's scary on some level, but we'll continue to get through it.
10:44And certainly, it was less terrible within the tragedy and within the difficulty than
10:52it could have been.
10:54Let me repeat in Spanish, and then I'll pass it on to Chief Christensen.
10:58Como saben, ya hemos pasado, básicamente, el huracán, huracán, tormenta tropical,
11:06bueno, fue cambiando.
11:08Ya todo se está tranquilizando, y a medida que el centro de la tormenta se aleje de nuestra
11:13área, vamos a continuar viendo menos y menos vientos, menos lluvia.
11:19Entonces, de aquí en adelante, son, en general, buenas noticias.
11:23Ahora, todavía hay esas bandas de lluvia que de repente van a pasar, pero nada muy
11:29severo.
11:30He hablado con varios de los alcaldes, los jueces del condado, de los condados vecinos,
11:36y los alcaldes en las ciudades afectadas, y todos me dicen lo mismo, lo mismo que estamos
11:40viendo nosotros.
11:41Y es que hay inundaciones en las calles, algunos hogares, pero no muchos, y si se han inundado,
11:49será de repente una o dos pulgadas, pero, en general, el problema más grande es la
11:54luz.
11:55Entonces, me imagino que ustedes están lidiando con esa dificultad, muchos de ustedes.
12:02En los bayous, bueno, tenemos todavía bastante elevados los niveles en Brace, en White Oak,
12:08en Buffalo, pero van bajando.
12:09A medida que pase la tarde, van a seguir bajando esos niveles, esas inundaciones en las vías
12:14van a bajar, el calor regresará.
12:17Entonces, vamos a estar alrededor de los 90 grados, pero con la humedad que va a incrementar
12:23por lo mojado que está la tierra, entonces, el índice va a ser muy alto, nos vamos a
12:30sentir como si estuviéramos a 100 grados Fahrenheit o más, entonces, hay que prepararnos
12:36para eso.
12:38Las marejadas ciclónicas, que podían haber sido un problema grande, al fin no lo fueron.
12:44Las inundaciones, la verdad que fue menos de lo que pensábamos iba a suceder, entonces,
12:50son buenas noticias.
12:52En cuanto a personas que hayan fallecido, solamente hasta ahora, bueno, igual es muy
12:58trágico, pero gracias a Dios no sabemos de más fallecimientos.
13:03En adicional, está el señor que murió en Humboldt y la señora que perdió su vida
13:10en Spring.
13:12En total, rescates en lugares donde hay inundaciones han habido 47, en total, en todo el condado,
13:1932 por departamentos del condado Harris y 15 rescates por la ciudad de Houston.
13:28Estamos todavía a nivel uno, el nivel máximo de activación, pero más tarde, entrada la
13:32tarde, por ahí a las seis, bajaremos a nivel tres, que es el segundo más leve, y vamos
13:39a estar pendientes en lo que bajan las aguas.
13:41En cuanto al condado, mañana va a estar igual que hoy, todo cerrado, desde la oficina de
13:48impuestos hasta las cortes, y van a trabajar nuestros empleados desde la casa hasta donde
13:54sea posible.
13:55Hay 2.2 millones de individuos o hogares sin electricidad en este momento en la región,
14:051.6 millones de ellos en el condado Harris, entonces es un porcentaje enorme de los clientes
14:11totales que tiene CenterPoint, y sé que es muy incómodo.
14:16Las buenas noticias es que los 7,000 equipos que vienen de otros estados a ayudarnos aquí
14:25en Texas, ya están.
14:27Ya mañana van a estar físicamente arreglando los postes de luz, arreglando las líneas
14:34eléctricas, no hay que esperar los varios días como la vez del derecho, y mañana por
14:39la tarde, me dice CenterPoint, ya van a poder darnos más o menos una proyección de cuánto
14:44se tardarán en restaurar la electricidad, bien sea para las personas que dependen de
14:50que se haya caído una línea de transmisión versus otro tipo de dificultad.
14:57Nuestro departamento de bomberos y también el departamento de ingeniería, con ayuda
15:02de los primeros respondedores, ya están comenzando evaluaciones iniciales para ver cualquier
15:08impacto mayor a las carreteras o escombros muy grandes que haya que recoger.
15:17Estamos en contacto con todas las ciudades del condado, ya está bajando el número de
15:22llamadas de rescate, y ya han llegado las ayudas del estado, más que nada son recursos
15:30estatales para rescates de agua.
15:34CenterPoint, como les dije, ya viene en camino, y en general, a largo plazo, pues es preparar
15:43más fondos para el control de inundaciones.
15:48Todavía esto no ha acabado, sé que se ve relativamente bien comparado con esos vientos
15:53tan terribles que pasaron esta mañana, esa lluvia, pero como les digo, hay muchas inundaciones,
15:58hay muchas vías bajo el agua, y seguro han visto en las noticias tantos automóviles
16:04que se han inundado, ahí se quedaron muchas veces, uno no se da cuenta que no puede uno
16:09pasar hasta que da la vuelta y ya no hay como salir, entonces, si quiere evaluar la condición
16:15de su casa, esa es una cosa, pero salir y conducir sin necesidad, por favor no lo haga,
16:20igual no hay casi nada abierto, entonces, de verdad, intente quedarse donde está hasta
16:27mañana.
16:28Esta noche, ok, el agua va a ser menor en las calles, pero van a haber los escombros
16:33que no van a ser visibles, además, muchísimas de las lámparas, de las luces en las vías
16:42están fallando, no funcionan, inclusive están colgando de cables, los semáforos también
16:46tenemos cientos de semáforos que no funcionan, entonces, pues es peligroso.
16:54Bueno, vamos a seguir manteniendo todo el mundo al tanto, en cuanto a refugios, estamos
17:04trabajando para establecer refugios para quienes necesiten uno lo más pronto posible,
17:09tarda un poco de tiempo en lo que se evalúa el sitio, la condición del sitio, si puede
17:13recibir mascotas, hoy día no los abrimos porque no queremos que la gente esté conduciendo
17:17sin necesidad, entonces, lo más pronto posible, ojalá mañana.
17:22Los individuos que tienen condiciones médicas, que dependen de la electricidad para su salud
17:29básica, llamen al 2-1-1, llamen al 2-1-1, hablan español, puede llamar, tenga documentos
17:36o no, y se les encontrará alguna ayuda, por ejemplo, si dependen oxígeno, le llevarán
17:41oxígeno, ese tipo de cosas.
17:44Igual, bueno, si tiene esos tipos de condiciones médicas, pero no quiere ir al refugio, denos
17:51una llamada, las personas que se han registrado en la lista de STEER, ya las estamos llamando
17:55para ver qué necesitan.
17:57Lo otro es, o final, aquí es la línea contra el aumento injustificado de precios, van a
18:05haber contratistas, vamos a estar trabajando con distintas entidades, entonces, si ve
18:10que alguien está tratando de tomar ventaja, por favor, repórtelos para que no tomen ventaja
18:14de sus vecinos, reporten en readyharris.org, o 346-354-7459, 346-354-7459.
18:26Entonces, en conclusión, fue mejor de lo esperado, sí fallecieron dos personas, veremos
18:34si hay más tragedias, ojalá no, pero debemos agradecer que no fue tan terrible como pudo
18:42haber sido, fue un huracán, fue un huracán fuerte, pero en general, en general, hemos
18:50sido, pues, bendecidos, y ya ahorita con lo que viene, con este calor y sin luz, es muy
18:57incómodo, es desesperante, pero va a estar trabajando el Center for Ineso, y al menos
19:03para la gran mayoría de la comunidad, no va a ser un tema de salud tan serio, entonces,
19:11gracias nuevamente por hacer caso a nuestras recomendaciones, y los mantendremos al tanto.
19:18We'll hear now from Chief Christensen.
19:24Good afternoon, Laurie Christensen, your Harris County Fire Marshal.
19:27Tonight is going to be critical.
19:28We all know that most of us don't have power, I know my family's in the same situation.
19:32What I'm going to do is recommend what we're doing.
19:35Get with your neighbors.
19:36If you can create a social media, maybe chat group, or a text thread, do a roll call.
19:41Check with your, you know, not only your family members, but your neighbors.
19:45That is something we're doing, because what's going to happen tonight is people are going
19:48to start using their generators, if they have them, or they've borrowed them, and what's
19:52going to happen is that carbon monoxide that we've talked a lot about, we've said over
19:56430 people died last year, it's the silent killer.
20:00That carbon monoxide, when you go to bed tonight, it's going to travel into your home if you
20:06do not ensure it's at least 15 to 20 feet away from your home.
20:10Do not put it under the eaves.
20:13Please do not bring it inside of your apartment, or your garage, or your home.
20:19That carbon monoxide that comes off of there is very significant when it develops and it
20:25puts you to sleep, and unfortunately things happen, and we can't even get there to save
20:30you because you can't wake up to tell us you need us.
20:33So I really want to encourage you, if you're going to use a generator, check with your
20:36neighbors.
20:37I mentioned yesterday, if you hear a generator cut off, and all of a sudden you don't hear
20:41it coming back on, or you don't see a neighbor out there, go and check.
20:45Let's make sure that they're still okay in their residence.
20:49The other thing I want to talk about is, as CenterPoint is working diligently to get our
20:53power back on, something we don't think about, as power's coming back on, you see the poles
20:58that are down, and we're going to see, you know, threads of the electricity that's going
21:04to come on, then it's going to come on, go off, those sort of things.
21:07That being said, if you're not using an appliance, such as a coffee pot, you'd be surprised how
21:13much electrical energy that uses.
21:16Coffee pot, your washer, your dryer, unplug anything you don't need, so that when the
21:22power is restored to your home, you do not necessarily have an incident where it could
21:27create a surge and start a fire.
21:30Again, we're going to see this for several days, and I know we've got to start preparing
21:34that this may go on for days, but go ahead and make sure your family is safe by preparing
21:39your home, unplug the appliances you don't need.
21:42Keep the generators out of your property, keep them 15 to 20 feet away.
21:47If it starts raining again, please do not go outside and begin working on your generator.
21:52You could have an electrical shock because of that.
21:54Remember, you're plugging in extension cords.
21:57Back your extension cords.
21:58If you've got extension cords running and you've plugged that into your generator, do
22:02not back your vehicle over it.
22:04Make sure it's not in a walk area.
22:06That could fray that extension cord and, again, cause serious injury.
22:10Our greatest concern is that if you've made it through this storm, we know we have some
22:14recovery period.
22:16We want you to continue recovering, getting your family back together, getting your power
22:20back together, and getting your homes back together.
22:24We have first responders out.
22:25I was out today riding around.
22:27I see the lights.
22:28The judge is absolutely correct.
22:30If you could stay off the streets, please do.
22:32We're out there doing assessments, trying to ensure we clear the roadway so that first
22:37responders can get to you as quickly as possible through these streets with the trees.
22:42But I ask, please keep an eye on your neighbors, your friends.
22:45I know that a lot of you can't watch TV because that's one of the appliances you're going
22:48to unplug.
22:49But I can tell you, if you're like me, you're never going to let your cell phone go without
22:53power.
22:54So use your social media, use your contacts, do whatever it takes to stay in touch, and
22:59let's keep everybody safe.
23:01Thank you so much.
23:02Thank you.
23:03We'll take questions.
23:04Have you been given a timeline on power restoration plan?
23:05I mean, you referenced it with the emergency plan, but that's not on the book.
23:12The timeline, I'm told, is expected tomorrow, but let me wait and see if Mr. Locke has anything
23:17to add.
23:18Well, no.
23:19We'll have a better idea tomorrow.
23:20Excuse me.
23:22Excuse me.
23:23We'll have a better idea sometime tomorrow on the timeline restoration.
23:27And you've swollen available crews up past 10,000, and there'll be 10,000 workers here
23:32to restore power?
23:33We've got 7,000 mutual assistance crews, and we've got over 3,000 Centerpoint employees
23:38out in the field working to restore power.
23:41And they're actively working right now?
23:43The mutual assistants are en route.
23:46Then they'll go through a safety training, first thing tomorrow, and then there'll be
23:50boots on the ground working around the region.
23:52Judge, you made reference to high water rescues, and the number being, it is what it is, but
23:58it's relative to other situations.
24:00This is a good thing.
24:01So you think the messaging is clear?
24:03I really do.
24:04I really do.
24:05And we saw it in the screens, you know?
24:07I go take a little nap and then go wake up and look at it, and oh, wow, still people
24:12are not driving around.
24:14So I was, I know people do listen, but I have to admit, I was still pleasantly surprised
24:20and it paid off.
24:22So thank you, because every one of those rescues can be a tragedy, and yeah, I have chills
24:28just talking about it.
24:29I'm really, really, really grateful that everybody did their part.
24:33And I would just say hang in there with us just a little bit longer, because we don't
24:36want any tragedies in the next few hours into the night, now that the hurricane has passed,
24:42now that the storm has passed.
24:49Thank you all.