Families planning for power outages as frigid temperatures swing into SE Houston

CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) -- As freezing temps roll into southeast Texas, many families are hoping that their power will remain on.

Dozens of homes in the Cypress area lost power overnight, which CenterPoint said was because of an equipment malfunction.

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Roland Frankie tells ABC13 that power has gone out in his neighborhood twice in the past two weeks.

The last thing Frankie said he needs is for it to go out again while it's freezing outside, so he's coming up with a few backup plans.

He's trying to get this generator started in case there's another outage.

RELATED: What CenterPoint is doing to make sure the power stays on during the arctic blast

"It's a diesel generator, there's an old filter that goes on it, and it corroded over time," he said.

He has yet to have good luck, and the clock is ticking.

"We're not looking too good over here, so we gotta do whatever it takes to stay warm," he said.

Staying warm is a priority for the dad with three children at home, including a newborn.

"I'm more worried about the wind than anything else, with the 30-40 mph wind gusts and just the irregularity of the power going out," Frankie said. "We have to have the power to function."

SEE ALSO: What to do if your power goes out, CenterPoint's plan to monitor outages amid freezing temperatures

"Having another place to go, if that is an option, that's always a good situation to have," Colby Gravatt, CenterPoint Energy's Service Area Director, said. "If that's not the case, make sure you have blankets, make sure you have water, make sure you have food, make sure you have any medications that you might need."

The company has opened up a distribution evaluation center with an incident command staff who monitor outages and send crews out as quickly as possible.

CenterPoint says customers should be prepared for prolonged outages if there is extensive damage from wind gusts and downed trees.

"Just prepare as they normally would for any type of electrical outage that would be like a winter storm or a hurricane outage," Gravatt said.

Frankie's family is warm now, but if the generator doesn't start and the power goes out, he will need some help.

"We would have to use other friends' and family houses and do whatever it takes to stay alive," he said.

CenterPoint says to start making those backup plans now.