Houston Ice Storm: Afternoon Update

HOUSTON, TX — The first major winter storm of 2018 in Houston is just about halfway done. The snow, sleet and freezing rain has stifled traffic and closed many road. Most schools are still making decisions about Wednesday, lots of businesses have shut down for the day and the entire region is hunkered down for a night of freezing temperatures — most in the high teens overnight with wind chills dipping into the single digits.

County Judge Ed Emmett urges residents to stay off the roads if they can. With some precipitation still falling, it's likely to freeze on the road, making icy conditions actually look like water. Some roads that iced over today but melted into water, well it will most likely turn back into ice tonight.

"Assume everything you see on the road is ice," Emmett said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. "The same thing applies to sidewalks."

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and several other city leaders held a press conference Tuesday morning to address some issues regarding the wintry mix that began this morning and is expected to continue until 5 p.m. today. After that, temperatures aren’t expected to get back above freezing until about noon or 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Turner started his press conference by saying how nice it was Monday at 68 degrees and that it’s supposed to be back at 70 this weekend.

“Like we say, if you don’t like the weather, stick around,” Turner said. He also thanked Houstonians for heeding advice to stay off the streets.

UPDATED WARMING CENTER INFO
Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church
2801 Conti St.

South Main Baptist Church
4100 S. Main St.

Houston Sobering Center
150 N. Chenevert St.

Salvation Army

Sally’s House 1717 Congress

Star of Hope 1811 Ruiz
— City of Houston (@HoustonTX) January" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/HoustonTX/... 16, 2018

Here are the update facts [3:15 p.m.] about Winter Storm 2018:

• Power outages reached 55,000 Tuesday afternoon, but CenterPoint and Entergy worked to dwindle that down to 22,000 by 3:15 p.m.
• If you see downed power lines, call 3-1-1
• If you observe any accidents or other weather-related items, call 713-225-5627 in the county
• Metro will suspend bus service at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night
• In the county, there have been 200 reports of traffic accidents (27 of them major) and 100 roadways impacted by ice
• The Galleria has closed for the day and will reopen Wednesday when it deems safe enough for employees to get to work
• The Woodlands Mall is closed
• Some schools have announced closing (HISD will decide later this afternoon)
• All HOV lanes around Houston are closed
• All area tolls have been waived until noon Wednesday. However, the interchanges to other major thoroughfares are closed
• There have been more than 800 flight cancellations across Texas today, with most out of Bush Intercontinental Airport. There have been 35 cancellations at Hobby Airport
• TxDOT continues to put material on the roads to make it a little more drivable
• Citizens are encouraged to call 3-1-1 to report any icy conditions they observe
• Homeless folks are being taken to shelters
• Two new shelters have opened up at Pleasant Grove and South Main Baptist Churches for anyone who may have lost heat in their homes
• Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena encourages residents to use precation when using fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, candles and space heaters
• Pena added that HFD responded to four structure fires already
• Hospitals have enough space to take in patients as needed (last week they were at capacity because of the flu epidemic)
• Police chief Art Acevedo said there were 9 minor traffic accidents and 6 major accidents overnight, but none were weather-related
• Pena said to keep a stockpile of food, blankets and flashlights to weather the storm
• Some of the homeless camps have started fires to keep warm
• Houston City Council will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday instead of 9
• Tier 1 city employees (all essential personnel) are at work and Tier 2 employees are up to the director of each department. Tier 3 city employees are working from home until further notice
• Turner said he will wait until late Tuesday to decide on what services will be closed tomorrow and which tier of employees will go back to work
• Municipal court is cancelled tonight, and tomorrow’s will be decided this evening
• Here are the major highway closures

Patch will continue to update this as night falls.

Top image: Juvenal Perez uses a credit card to scrape ice off his windshield as the temperature continues to fall below freezing, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, in Houston. Hundreds of flights have been canceled in Texas, where frigid temperatures have left runways and roads dangerously icy. Sleet and freezing rain are forecast for parts of the state. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)