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Mayor Wetmeyer urges CenterPoint to "step it up" as more than 2 million lose power after Hurricane Barrel
Summary
Mayor Wetmeyer, speaking from a West Grama cooling center, credited volunteers and corporate partners for relief work and pressed utility CenterPoint to accelerate restorations after Hurricane Barrel knocked out power to more than 2,000,000 residents; he said a major portion of outages could be restored by Sunday evening.
Mayor Wetmeyer, speaking at the West Grama Multi Service Center, said Houston is relying on volunteers, city staff and corporate partners as crews continue to restore service after Hurricane Barrel.
"It's Houstonians helping Houstonians," Wetmeyer said, thanking volunteers, city employees and elected officials who have staffed cooling centers and distribution sites. He said Cisco had delivered food and water on an 18-wheeler and urged residents to use available resources.
The mayor pressed utility CenterPoint to increase its pace of work. "They got to do better. We want them to step it up and double their efforts," he said, adding that he had received "encouraging news" that a major portion of the outage could be restored by Sunday evening.
The episode reported that more than 2,000,000 residents experienced power outages and that about 1,400 traffic signals remained dark; Wetmeyer warned residents to stay off streets after dark in neighborhoods still without power.
Host Travis Lemons directed listeners to federal and regional recovery resources, listing fema.gov and readyharris.org as places for residents to find assistance and information.
The segment combined on-the-ground reporting and city commentary; no formal actions or votes were taken during the interview. The mayor described continuing multiagency coordination and thanked private partners for donating supplies.
What happens next: Wetmeyer signaled the city and utility partners would continue round-the-clock work until power restoration is complete and asked residents to heed safety guidance while crews operate.
