As of Thursday, more than a million electricity outages remain. According to an official with Houston’s largest power utility company, 500,000 customers still will not have power next week.
The Houston Police Department said more officers are needed as frustrations intensify four days after the storm.
“We have crews out there working to restore power and we’re helping them out,” Larry Satterwhite, Houston Chief of Police said. “We have crews that are out there installing generators at intersections, and it’s very dark. We’re helping them, too. So, you can imagine the demands that we face with this power outage.”
A total of 100 officers from across Texas will aid Houston however, the majority are from North Texas. Those include Dallas, Fort Worth, Allen, Grand Prairie, Plano, Trophy Club, McKinney, Carrollton, Mesquite, Irving, and Garland.
On Thursday morning, dozens of officers were greeted by Chief Eddie Garcia at Dallas Police Headquarters ahead of their departure.
“They need cops to help their community,” Garcia said. “Two-person vehicles will be patrolling their areas. Obviously, they’ll be working 12-hour shifts. They’re working during the evening hours which is their most critical time of need.”
In a press conference Thursday, Houston’s Mayor John Whitmire said he was grateful to Acting Governor Dan Patrick and the Texas Department of Emergency Management for approving the collaboration.
“We’re concerned about traffic enforcement. We have 1,400 traffic lights out,” Whitmire said. “Also, (they will) relieve HPD officers that are working 12-hour shifts. They have their families to care for. This is a great program of collaboration providing public safety and looking out for our first responders.”
According to TDEM, Texas launched programs to mobilize local law enforcement to send them to disaster areas in the late 1990’s.
“To be able to take local government employees and be paid by the state or federal government… to help in somebody else’s disaster,” Kidd said. “This is the right thing to do.”
While North Texas officers will remain in Houston until at least Sunday night, Satterwhite said their time could be extended depending on the progress made by CenterPoint Energy.
