This browser does not support the Video element.
City leaders frustrated over Beryl preparation
As Greater Houston gets back into action after Hurricane Beryl, leaders at City all are looking into what went right and what went wrong. FOX 26 Political Reporter Greg Groogan is in southwest Houston to report on what councilmembers had to say.
HOUSTON - Hurricane Beryl landfall - plus 16 and Houston Homeland Security and Public Safety Director Tom Munoz telling City Council the storm's displacement and human toll could have been worse.
"Our pre-staging, our pre-planning throughout the year allowed us to react," said Munoz.
District F Council Member Tiffany Thomas wasn't having it and unleashed a tongue lashing on behalf of constituents, she believes, were under-served.
"If I was not prepared on the west side with water and partnerships and collaborations, we would not have a damn thing. No one at OEM said what's happening on the west? How can we assist? No one. I don't want to hear anything more about our goals. I had seniors charging life alerts in their cars, ventilators in their cars, and there was no support. The west side cannot be forgotten," said Thomas.
District B Council Member Tarsha Jackson reminded fellow City leaders that while the storm has passed, the hardship for some hasn't.
"We are still, to me, in the middle of a storm, because people are still without lights and people are still trying to recover."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Council Member Abbie Kamin focused on the state of flood resilience in a city that's suffered plenty from heavy weather past, and hasn't done near enough to harden.
"The big one can come, will come. We are on borrowed time and we need these projects. We are not ready for the big one, because we don't have the sufficient investments in infrastructure and flood mitigation that are needed," Kamin said.
Kamin also blasted Centerpoint claiming the monopoly utility deliberately withheld vital information from city leaders and Houstonians.