What happened
Emergency responders were among the first to see the extent of damage from the winds, which reached as high as 74 mph in Montgomery County, according to unofficial numbers from the National Weather Service.
Fire Chief Palmer Buck said rescue efforts in The Woodlands and Shenandoah included an incident in the Village of Grogan’s Mill where two people were trapped in a house when a tree fell through the roof.
In response to the storm, he said The Woodlands Fire Department responded to:
- 235 calls from 5 a.m. to midnight on July 8
- 81 service calls, including 35 trees on homes, 32 trees blocking roads and 6 downed powerlines
- 19 calls for gas lines ripped out of the ground
- 7 rescues
- 8 traffic accidents
- 6 electrical-related calls
- 49 fire alarms
- 9 carbon monoxide alarms
“I had gone outside to watch the winds," Pilgrim said. "They were moving around, and I felt like they were going in a circle. They uprooted three trees in our yard. I’ve never seen a pine being uprooted like that."
Pilgrim said he and his family were able to get help from the fire department following the impact. They are now in the process of waiting on insurance while a tarp is on their home, he said.
Diving in deeper
Area hospitals also felt the effects of the power outages through the effects on communication networks and those with certain health conditions.
“Thankfully, hospitals have generator power, so we continue on with taking care of urgent needs while operating on full generator power,” said Justin Kendrick, senior vice president and CEO of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center and The Woodlands Northeast Hospital. “The communication challenges of the storm’s impact on internet connectivity, cell phone towers and those types of things add in that additional variable, and that makes it challenging to operate as efficiently as possible.”
Kendrick said the hospital has 96 hours of provisions, generator power and supplies ready for emergencies, which it was able to begin replenishing shortly after the storm because supply chain routes were not interrupted.
Managing the impact
Missy Herndon, president and CEO of Interfaith of The Woodlands, said the nonprofit was fully functional on July 10 after several days without power.
“We will be offering rent and mortgage assistance, food through our food pantry, water, as well as shelter for those who live in South Montgomery County who might need to go into a motel situation while they get their homes taken care of,” she said.
Interfaith plans to hold a drive-thru event for food and water distribution beginning at 8:30 a.m. July 12 in its parking lot at 4242 Interfaith Way, The Woodlands, and it is working with Kroger on further water distributions, she said in a phone interview.
The most recent storm is only one of the challenges the agency is seeing, she said, as it served a record number of 3,300 people in June through its food pantry, which normally sees about 1,200-1,500 people each month.
“We saw a very large increase in May as well,” Herndon said. “We were about 46% over last year’s numbers in May.”
For more information on Interfaith programs, including hot congregate meals for seniors and assistance with rent or mortgage payments, click here. For information about making donations, including food donations needed for the Interfaith Food Pantry, click here.
