Local Officials Stress Patience, Celebrate the Wins as Many Still Wait on Power

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

July 12, 2024

By Natalie Cook Clark

Many Katy residents and businesses are still waiting for power. Officials stress patience as tension builds in Fort Bend County with reports of people screaming at lineman and one man was charged for pulling a gun. Still, wins are celebrated in Katy as power returns to a senior living community.

Photo credit: Chris Harris

Fort Bend County Reports Resident Frustration

Emotions ran high Friday as many Katy residents and businesses are still without power after Hurricane Beryl knocked it out on Monday. In a press conference yesterday Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan said that the county wouldn’t tolerate any violence.

“We had a call that a CenterPoint energy worker had a gun pulled on them,” says Sheriff Eric Fagan. “We all need to be calm and patient.”

Sheriff said that charges will be filed and that no violence will be tolerated, especially when so many of these linemen are coming in from other places to help us. The Sheriff said that he wouldn’t allow them to be abused and mistreated.

Fort Bend County Constable Chad Norvell also stresses patience. His department posted on Facebook yesterday about a motorist who stopped and yelled at linemen workers. Those workers told deputies that they were local and were out working when their own homes didn’t have power.

“Please be patient with the linemen and remember they all left their families to come help yours,” says Constable Chad Norvell.

Celebrating Power at a Katy Senior Home

But we are seeing good. City of Katy Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris has been out helping the community. Yesterday he was delivering water to Carriage Inn, a senior living community in Katy when CenterPoint was able to restore their power.

“When the power came back on hearing all the cheers of the people in the retirement center was really overwhelming. The staff was crying and the residents were cheering,” says Chris Harris. “It was a heartwarming experience.”

Harris says that the Katy Police Department, the Katy fire Department and Katy Office of Emergency Management have been doing hour checks on the Carriage Inn. He says that the staff had been doing an amazing job of ventilating the facility.

At the time, the staff was so nervous to reset the breaker. Harris volunteered to help and was happy to be part of the experience.

At the worst of this historic outage, CenterPoint says that 2.26 million residents were without power. Since Hurricane Beryl brought a direct path to Katy over a million residents have seen their power restored. However, CenterPoint said today that even by meeting their restoration goals, they still expect that around 500,000 could still be without power going into next week.

"I know our friends and neighbors without power are suffering in this heat, please take precautions and utilize the cooling centers being provided by churches and public entities," says Harris.

Find Help in Katy

City of Katy Mayor Dusty Thiele wants to remind residents to follow this city's official website and social media pages for the latest updates.

Hope Impacts and Supply Bridge Ministries is hosting a supply drive through today, July 12, 2024 at 917 S. Mason Road. First come, first serve.

Cooling centers have been set up in the city since Tuesday. Residents who need a cooling center can get the information by calling Katy Police Department at 281-391-4848 or reach out to Katy Christian Ministries.

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