Fort Bend County Recovering from Hurricane Ike

County Judge

Fort Bend County, TX

Robert E. Hebert

Fort Bend County Judge

  Phone (281) 238-3430

www.fortbendcountynews.info

For Immediate Release

Fort Bend County Recovering from Hurricane Ike

RICHMOND,TX – Fort Bend County experienced tropical storm and hurricane force winds overnight.   Downed power lines are widespread across the county.  However all tropic storm winds will be out of the County by 11:00 a.m. today.   All residents experiencing power outages should call CenterPoint at 713-207-2222.

Preliminary assessment and reports to the county’s Emergency Operations Center indicate over three-dozen blocked roads closed by downed trees have been reported throughout the county.  Other significant issues include blocked roads due to downed power lines, and wind-blown debris.    If you need to report any roads that are blocked by trees, please call the Emergency Operations Center at 281-238-3430.  Crews are in the process of clearing all these roads on a priority basis.  Primary thoroughfares will be cleared first followed by local roads.

Fort Bend County continues to be under a county-wide Curfew until 2:00 today.  It is important to keep traffic on our roads to a minimum until crews have time to clear roads and address other issues that might negatively impact safety for the general public. 

Fort Bend County Road and Bridge Department will be working in coordination with the cities the process of surveying county roadways to assess Hurricane Ike’s damages in the county.  “Clearing the roads and assessing the damages are our main focus during the next 24-hours,” said Judge Bob Hebert.

 “We do know that the eastern part of the county had a lot more damage than the  Rosenberg-Richmond area; that is where we need to focus our attention,” said Jeff Braun, Fort Bend County Emergency Operations Center coordinator. “Right now, there is nothing potentially serious just damage assessment that needs to be done.”

Braun said that the county’s Emergency Medical Service is now responding to calls and able to move patients to hospitals. Earlier, the service was discontinued due to severe winds.  “We have come to a point now where we can send our EMS crew out to help our citizens. The crew’s boxed vans are susceptible to severe winds,” said Braun.

During the height of the winds it became necessary to rescue a man trapped under a tree.   Working in coordination, the City of Stafford and County EMS rescued the man and transported him to a local hospital in an alternative response vehicle that was heavy enough to transport the injured man safely in spite of the sustained winds.  This was the only reported injury due to Hurricane Ike.

There were also several families in the Arcola/Fresno area whose homes were severely damaged and the county provided assistance by transporting these families to a safe and dry facility for their safety.  In all there were 23 individuals transported to safety.

Many of the local hospital and the Emergency Operation Center remain on generator power at this time due to intermittent public power supply in the area.   A representative of  CenterPoint is currently on site to provide assistance.

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