Among the reports, The Woodlands Fire Chief Palmer Buck said his department ran 658 calls from 7 p.m. Feb. 14 to noon Feb. 18, with 14 structure fires, including a two-alarm apartment fire. Countywide, there were 1,600 calls and 58 structure fires. The Woodlands Fire Department acted as dispatcher for all fire departments in the county except for that of the city of Conroe, he said.
John Powers, assistant general manager for community services, shared information about trash service from Waste Management. Normal operations resumed Feb. 18.
Powers said additional pickups will be conducted Feb. 20 due to expected heavy loads of household waste.
He said residents may put out three additional bags of trash up to 40 pounds each at no cost with their regular trash cart. An additional two bags may be placed alongside those with "pink tags" that would normally cost $1.75 each for extra trash pickup. The two tags will be free of charge and can be obtained through Kroger or at township buildings, including Town Hall at 2801 Technology Forest Blvd., The Woodlands, and parks and recreation facilities on Millennium Forest, Research Forest and Creekside Forest drives.
Green waste will not be picked up next week to free up resources for this additional pickup, he said.
Household construction debris can be placed at dumpsters at Wendtwoods Community Garden at 8950 Creekside Green Drive; at the Gosling Park & Ride at2900 Marsico Place; and at Sterling Ridge Park & Ride, 8001 McBeth Way. Dumpsters are available Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. beginning on Saturday, he said.
Among other discussion, Director John Anthony Brown spoke about the events of the week.
"I feel strongly that I really need to comment on what happened," Brown said. "But 15 to 24 hours or more without power in these extreme conditions is not acceptable. What happened this week was unacceptable and inexcusable."
Brown said he felt Texans were given ample notice of the extreme temperatures to better prepare the infrastructure.
"We should be the standard for how to deal with these types of situations. ...This was not a blizzard. ... We lose power when it's too hot and, now, when it's too cold. Only when we have Southern California weather should we expect everything to work."
He urged elected officials to be vigilant and encouraged action for legislation that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
