HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Parts of downtown Houston were still blocked off on Monday in what Mayor John Whitmire calls an “exclusion zone.” The closure is for sidewalk cleanup and repairs after windows were blown out in Thursday’s destructive storm. A three-block-by-three-block section – from Louisiana Street to Travis Street and McKinney Street to Polk Street – remained closed as crews cleaned up the broken glass and other debris the storm left behind. That includes the area where Wells Fargo Plaza, the Kinder Morgan building, and a few other skyrises had their windows blown out. A spokesperson for the Downtown District…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A northeast Houston woman finally got a resolution from CenterPoint Energy on Monday afternoon after turning to Action 13 for help. She and her grandson thought they had been trapped in their house for the last five days after Thursday’s storm, which caused what they believed were live power lines to fall onto their property. According to Natalie Washington, last week’s strong winds caused the utility line that hangs from the two poles on the sides of her house to spark a fire after falling onto a tree near her yard. The Houston Fire Department quickly extinguished…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Rice University released the 2024 Kinder Houston Area Survey on Monday, revealing much about how Houstonians feel about the region’s past, present, and future. More than 5,300 respondents participated in the survey’s 43rd year, which chronicled the changes in southeast Texas and provided a blueprint for the future. Houstonians are really concerned about three key things: crime and safety, housing affordability, and the economy. Despite crime going down since 2020, concerns about crime have risen. With regard to housing affordability, one in five say it’s their biggest concern, and Houston is now a majority-renter city at 60%.…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An off-duty Houston police officer is accused of interfering with an alleged drunken driving investigation after the vehicle he rode in rolled over, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said. According to deputies, Adan Lopez was not wearing a seat belt during the single-vehicle crash at about 2 a.m. on May 18 in the 22000 block of FM-1314 in the Porter area. MCSO said Lopez was the passenger in a vehicle driven by Norma Miranda Estrada, who was detained for DWI suspicion. Deputies said Lopez, identified as an off-duty officer from the Houston Police Department, refused to comply…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Five days after storms crippled Houston, several hundred seniors on the northeast side remained without power Monday. Their affordable housing complex, Cypress Gardens, off U.S. 90, lost power during the storm. “I feel stranded. I feel like I’m on an island by myself, you know? I feel disconnected from society. Can’t talk to nobody. It’s kind of like a helpless feeling. Kind of like being alone, that’s what I feel and I’m hungry. I’m very hungry,” Randolph Reyna Jr., who lives at the complex with his father, Randolph Sr., said. The two were effectively trapped inside their…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — According to officials, Spring Branch and Cypress-Fairbanks independent school districts will continue to close on Tuesday in the aftermath of last week’s destructive storms. On Monday, Spring Branch ISD noted that roughly a third of its campuses do not have power. The district added that the electricity is coming on but shutting off shortly after. District offices, playgrounds, Spark Parks, secondary school sports courts, fields, and tracks will be closed and offline. SBISD said the district’s phone service provider is unstable and prevents incoming and outgoing calls. Spring Branch also posted resources on the SBISD website for families affected…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Heights High School and 35 other Houston ISD campuses are closing Tuesday as the district continues recovering from last Thursday’s destructive storm. HISD posted about the closures Monday evening, hours after classes were halted at 54 campuses. However, that didn’t include Reynolds Elementary School and Heights High, where classes began but later dismissed earlier after air conditioning issues on campus. HISD campuses not named on the list will be open, the district said. The campuses announced to close are: Barrick Elementary School Benbrook Elementary School Berry Elementary School Black Middle School Browning Elementary School Burrus Elementary School…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Recovery is in progress in Houston and surrounding areas after severe weather on Thursday, and CenterPoint Energy is continuing its ongoing efforts to restore power. MONDAY: As of Monday at 10 p.m., fewer than 150,000 customers remained powerless. According to CenterPoint outage tracker, about 210,000 customers had their power restored in the last 24 hours. CenterPoint said more than 770,000 customers have had their power restored since Thursday. CenterPoint expects electricity restoration to be ongoing until the end of the day on Wednesday for customers who are available to receive service. CenterPoint expects to restore about 90% of…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Many parts of Spring Branch were still without electricity on Monday following last Thursday’s deadly windstorm. There were long lines of people throughout the day at the nearby Boys and Girls Club on Pitner Street, where officials set up a food distribution center. The area is primarily made up of Spanish-speaking immigrants. The people waiting in line needed bare-bones essentials. Young children were seen carrying bags of ice to their apartment across the street, where the lights had yet to come back on. “I am worried most for my kids. My son had an allergic reaction on…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man who survived a crane collapse that killed another man has filed the first lawsuit following last week’s deadly storm. Crosby Ware, 66, suffered severe head, neck, and back injuries, according to attorney Kevin Haynes of Kherkher Garcia, LLP. Ware is suing Sesco Cement, ASI Industrial, Lampson International, and McRay Crane & Rigging, all of which operate in the 7300 block of Wingate along the Houston Ship Channel. The high winds toppled two cranes at the job site on the evening of May 16 as the storm was rolling through Houston. A video circulating on social media…
