Houston City Council eyes generators, ice storage as long-term improvements to handle future storms

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston emergency leaders defended the preparedness plan used during Hurricane Beryl to the city council but told them long-term improvements were needed.

As the death toll grows from Hurricane Beryl, emotions are still running high as to how Houston prepared.

"I don't have any 'attaboys' today or 'attagirls' today," City Council Member Tiffany Thomas said.

More than two weeks ago, Thomas said District F needed more assistance after the storm hit.

"I had seniors charging Life Alerts in their cars. Ventilators in their cars. And there was no support," Thomas recalled.

Emergency leaders met with the council on Wednesday to explain what they did before the storm. They say it came on their radar at the end of June.

About a week before it made landfall, they held their first call with state emergency leaders. The next day, they discussed it with the U.S. Coast Guard, police, and public works.

Three days before the storm, they staged equipment. The day before, they fully activated the emergency operation center.

It was a plan, they said, saved lives.

"Because of that, (the Houston Fire Department) was able to respond in the middle of the storm to 3,003 calls," Houston Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Munoz said.

It didn't all go well. When the power went out, few community centers had generators.

"I'm going to make generators one of the highest priorities," Mayor John Whitmire said.

It wasn't just power that went out but cell phone towers. To improve communication, they want to utilize churches and volunteers to spread information in person, which are changes they can make now.

Long-term goals like providing ice may take more time. After Hurricane Beryl, the city trucked in $200,000 worth of ice from Kentucky.

Emergency leaders said they can't do that before a storm arrives.

"How do we know that area is not going to be impacted?" Munoz asked. "How do we know that debris and trees aren't going to fall on that trailer? Who's going to man those trailers? Security issues."

They want a warehouse where ice can be created and stored to fix this. No timeline was given on when that could happen or how the city plans to pay for it.

Improvements, though, city leaders said, need to happen in case millions lose power again.

"There's been a lot of neglect. We know that," Whitmire said. "We have a great city, great people, but we have challenges that we have to address."

It's not just holding emergency leaders accountable; it's CenterPoint as well. The mayor wants the utility company leaders to attend a hearing where councilors can ask questions.

He's planning to testify, too. Next week, there's a hearing in Austin about what happened at the Senate, and Whitmire said he'll be there to tell lawmakers what happened and help them hold CenterPoint accountable.

For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook, X and Instagram.