Houstonians are angry over power, leadership failures after Beryl. We should be, too | Opinion
If you think Hurricane Beryl didn’t affect Fort Worth or Dallas, think again.
When Houston’s power goes out, it costs all of Texas money.
Start with the $2 million a day in state sales tax lost when business stops.
Figure in the cost of emergency response and the eventual cost of repairs. Add in the potential billion-dollar cost of burying more power lines or improving stormwater drainage.
So far, according to AccuWeather, the damage and direct losses alone add up to $28 billion-$32 billion.
Houstonians are directing their deserved scorn at CenterPoint Energy, the old Houston Light & Power. The company’s new $7-million-a-year chief executive is from San Francisco, where earthquakes were more a problem than hurricanes or windstorms.
When Houston residents needed to know where the power had been restored, they couldn’t find out from CenterPoint.
They had to find out from Whataburger and its smartphone app that showed which restaurants were open.
When they needed information and shelter, there was no storm shelter plan or unified radio emergency network.
There was just Dallas transplant “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, Houston’s populist hero, opening his Gallery Furniture showroom.
Look, Houston residents are fiercely proud of their ability to endure adversity.
“Houston Proud” is more than a T-shirt: It’s a spirit of love and shared burden that we don’t have in North Texas because we live separate lives in eight different major cities across four counties from Fort Worth to Frisco.
But after two wind disasters in two months, taking 20 precious lives and leaving thousands homeless, Houston Proud is Houston PO’ed.
Like the winter blackouts of 2021, the back-to-back storms have blown a giant hole in the idea that Texas can stand alone.
After Beryl, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been reduced to making excuses and accusations for why federal help didn’t come sooner.
And then there’s the money.
It’s stunning to review the damages from past weather events. There are entire websites devoted to “The Economic Impact of Houston’s Floods” and “The Economic Cost of Houston’s Heat” and “[Hurricane] Harvey in Perspective: the Houston Economy.”
Only two months ago, Houston suffered an 80-mph windstorm that wrecked downtown and tore down electricity transmission towers.
The damage was estimated by AccuWeather at $5 billion-$7 billion.
That was after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 ($5 billion), Hurricane Ike in 2008 ($30 billion) and Harvey in 2017 ($125 billion).
Then came Beryl.
The storm curved up the Gulf Coast and landed directly over Houston for hours, grinding trees and power poles to the ground, sometimes on top of homes.
Even Patrick, the most powerful public official in a historically business-friendly state, said CenterPoint Energy “underestimated” the Beryl forecast and “Right now, I want every person at CenterPoint to have one job: Get the power back on.”
At least one state senator, Houston Democrat Borris Miles, told the Houston Chronicle that Texas should look at the cost of burying power lines in Houston.
When the 2000 tornado ripped into downtown Fort Worth and blew out some windows in the Star-Telegram newsroom, lights shone brightly through broken glass and we went right back to work. The power lines were safe underground.
Besides the power lines, state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, focused on the need to prune or remove trees weakened by freeze, droughts and past storms.
Cain also said Houston needs better emergency communications.
When Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005, 15 radio stations teamed up as the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans, broadcasting news and public information on all frequencies until the emergency passed.
Houston needs the same advance agreement. Patrick, a former Houston TV sports anchor, built his fame as a radio talk showman and station owner. He could lead that effort.
In some ways, this has been Patrick’s finest hour. Left in charge by globetrotting Gov. Greg Abbott, he railed against President Joe Biden but also spoke clearly to a frightened Houston when CenterPoint executives failed.
Houston has Whataburger and Mattress Mack. But it needs genuine help from Texas.
