Newsroom

Tuesday February 15, 2022

One year ago, millions of people across Texas suffered and hundreds died from the winter freeze. Today, Judge Hidalgo released the following statement reflecting upon the one year anniversary of the Texas Winter Storm of 2021

“Ultimately, this was a man-made disaster. It is a travesty that the people of our community, living in the energy capital of the nation, continue to be haunted by the memory and trauma of last year’s winter storm. No neighborhood in Harris County, no hospital or nursing home, should have ever become victim to a loss of power or water for such a prolonged amount of time. And no family should have lost a loved one because of the buildup of carbon monoxide in a desperate search for a source of heat.

As we look back on that perilous week, I want to assure our community that for the past year, our county has been doing its part to mitigate any future prolonged power outages, including working to coordinate across agencies and ensure rapid communication to all communities affected. We are also reviewing steps the county can take to increase the use of carbon monoxide detectors. However, the resiliency of the state power grid is outside of the county’s purview. My hope is that on this one-year anniversary, state leaders will recommit themselves to proper investment and ironclad oversight to ensure the resiliency of our power grid is secured for good.”