“What we did the last 24 hours worked, let’s do it the next 24 hours,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said at his 5 p.m. press conference Tuesday.
Although a lot of happy residents took advantage of the day to do some impromptu sledding and build snowmen, others needed transportation to warming centers. Surprisingly for Houston, most drivers heeded officials’ pleas for them to stay off the roads.
One would-be ATM bandit didn’t factor in the snow as he made his escape, Whitmire said. His tracks led police right to him. “Our fine first responders tracked him to his vehicle and he is no longer on the streets of Houston.”
With forecasters predicting a refreeze Tuesday night and temperatures in the teens on Wednesday morning, calls for caution were everywhere. As the snow turns into slush on the roads and then it refreezes, it becomes very dangerous, said Randy Macchi, the city’s public works director.
According to Space City Weather: “You have witnessed one of the largest snowstorms in our history.” Hobby Airport recorded 3 inches of snow by 10 a.m. Other area locations saw anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of snow.
The refreezing was expected to occur as early at 7 or 8 p.m. Tuesday. Temperatures were expected to get into the 40s by Wednesday afternoon. Macci also warned residents that they should expect broken pipes to show up with the warming.
By 4 p.m. CenterPoint Energy was showing 792 customers out of power and that 28,769 had power restored in the last 24 hours.
Houston Police Department Chief J. Noe Diaz said calls for service were down and by 5 p.m. they had handled only 22 accidents, most of them minor.
In what Whitmire said was a new collaborative service, Fire Chief Thomas Muñoz said his department would be helping transport people to warming centers across the city.
Munoz also repeated his warnings about improper use of space heaters and generators and said two children were rushed to the hospital today by firefighters after they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.
“It’s half time. We’ve got the third and fourth quarters to go,” Whitmire said.
