Harris County Judge compares winter storm to a hurricane as crews prepare for ice

Harris Co. Judge compares impeding winter storm to category 5 hurricane

FOX 26 Report Matthew Seedorff has more as Houston and Harris County leaders are urging residents to stay home once arctic blast hits Houston.

HOUSTON - Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for the entire state of Texas Friday ahead of a surging winter storm. In addition, the National Weather Service has issued winter storm watches and warnings for much of Texas.

"We are about to see an incident the likes of which we have not seen in 30 years," said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. "[There’s] a very high probability of power outages. Dangerous conditions outside. Road closures. The same type of thing we would see with a category 5 hurricane."

In a press conference Friday, Houston and Harris County leaders stressed the importance of staying home if roads get covered in ice.

"Wherever you are on Sunday evening, prepare to stay there until at least Tuesday morning," said Hidalgo.

SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS

Texas Department of Transportation crews started pre-treating Houston area roads Friday afternoon. Forecasters expect snow, sleet, and/or freezing rain throughout the area. If power lines and trees get to icy, officials say they expect some outages.

"Even though we’re not sure what’s in store for the Houston area, we are prepared," said Olivia Koch, a spokesperson from CenterPoint Energy. "We always ask for folks to be prepared, depending on the damage, we just don’t know how long a power outage might last. We do want to communicate the fact that we’re very prepared and ready to be out there, as soon as it’s safe to do so."

FOR THE LATEST NEWS UPDATES, DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 NEWS APP

Although Houston doesn’t experience this extreme winter weather too frequently, Koch says workers are CenterPoint Energy are accustomed to it.

"Our crews are experienced in this type of weather," said Koch. "Even though we do live in Houston and don’t experience it a lot, our crews are experienced with assisting other utilities in areas that experience winter storms a lot more frequently than we do. They know how to handle these storms, and can work to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible."

Some Houston area grocery stores were crowded Friday evening as people prepare for the upcoming storm.

"It’s more of just putting a little something-something in the house," said Cynthia West. "I’m not going to be getting out."