North Texas police departments send officers to Houston area to help with Beryl's aftermath
HOUSTON - 60 officers from North Texas police departments will join 40 others from around the state to help Houston police with the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.
CenterPoint, the main electric service for the Houston area, is warning that they expect 500,000 customers will be without power until Sunday.
With many of the city's residents and businesses without power, police in Houston reached out for help.
"The Houston Police Department and the Texas Department of Emergency Management reached out to [Dallas Police] Chief Garcia, [Forth Worth Police] Chief Noakes and myself and said, hey we need a hundred officers to come to Houston to help us because of the extended power outage, and we said absolutely," said Allen Police Chief Steve Dye.
Thousands of traffic signals in the Houston area are down and 12 hospitals have been unable to discharge patients to homes without electricity.
Ambulances are holding patients for hours because hospitals have no room.
The state has turned NRG Stadium into a field hospital to serve as many as possible.
"We're sending supervisors, officers and they're teaming up with Houston police officers," said Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia. "They'll be working 12-hour shifts. They'll be working during the evening hours, which is their most critical time of need."
Like others, Houston police officers have had their homes damaged and are stuck without power.
Houston power outages: More than 1M still without electricity Thursday
More than a million people are still without power in the Houston area after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Monday.
"Our department is very thankful because that's going to give us a chance to maintain our constant coverage," said Houston interim police chief Larry Satterwhite. "This will allow a few of them to be able to go home, take care of some things that they need, so that they can come back to work because if they're worried about their families, their focus is not 100% on the threat."
The power problem is the greatest threat.
CenterPoint has brought in nearly 12,000 people, but power is not being restored fast enough.
"If CenterPoint meets their goals by Sunday, they will have reduced it from about 2.2 million people without power down to still about 500,000 for next week. Folks, that is not acceptable," said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
By mid-afternoon Thursday, the North Texas cop caravan arrived in Houston, bringing the help they need.
"We got your backs. I know Chief Satterwhite is going to have your back as well and I guarantee the City of Houston appreciates all the help that we're giving them, so thank you, God bless you all, and please stay safe," said Chief Garcia.
Patrick says Governor Greg Abbott has announced an investigation into CenterPoint and any power company that does not deliver to see what their problems are.