HOUSTON – During a press conference on Tuesday, Acting Governor Dan Patrick gave his thoughts on CenterPoint’s preparation for Hurricane Beryl.
Patrick was joined by Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) Chief Nim Kidd, and other city officials to discuss response efforts after the deadly storm.
SUGGESTED: Houston power outage on Tuesday: Live Centerpoint, Entergy tracker; report an outage
When asked if he was satisfied with CenterPoint’s response to the storm, Acting Gov. Patrick stated they would have to answer for themselves if they were prepared and positioned.
According to Patrick, he signed multiple waivers so the company could have crews come into the city faster. On his end, Patrick says the state was positioned with crews ready in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Houston.
“I’ll tell you whether I’m satisfied or not when I have a full report of where their crews were when they were asked to come in, and how quickly they get power back,” he said. “Any thought that people were surprised that the storm might come to Houston is shocking to me. I still have my text that I sent on the Fourth of July when the track was Mexico and the Rio Grande. In my text, I said ‘I’m not comfortable with this track, I’m not comfortable with this storm.'”
Until he gets a full report from CenterPoint on their actions, Acting Gov. Patrick says he can’t give his honest response on their actions until then.
“If Centerpoint wasn’t ready, that’s on them.”