Houston Ice Storm: Complete Update From City Officials

HOUSTON, TX — The first major winter storm of 2018 has slowed things down in Houston. Schools are out, lots of businesses have shut down for the day, roads and bridges are icy and slick, and the town has hunkered down for the most part.

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. He and city leaders addressed the following facts about Winter Storm 2018:

• 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
• Not only driving, but walking on icy sidewalks can be dangerous, especially for children and seniors
• Wind chills are expected to drop into the teens overnight
• 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 have already been 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
• 11,000 people are without power, according to CenterPoint, which has 2.4 million customers
• If you see downed power lines, call 3-1-1
• There have been 195 flight cancellations out of Bush Intercontinental Airport. There have been 35 cancellations at Hobby Airport
• Trash pickup was suspended at noon Tuesday
• 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 later today 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 the day goes on.

AP Photo/David Goldman