Lack of lighting and electricity continues to plague Houston

The need for more power, more electricity, more light was underscored during a sometimes somber news conference Thursday as Mayor John Whitmire and interim Police Chief Larry Satterwhite spoke about the tragic death the night before of Harris County Deputy Fernando Esqueda.

According to Satterwhite and an account posted online by Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Esqueda was one of several officers searching for a man identified as Ronnie Palmer who earlier in the evening allegedly pistol-whipped an employee at Little Ceasar’s Pizza on Wallisville Road, saying his order was wrong.

Investigators believe Esqueda spotted the man’s car but didn’t realize he was inside or nearby and was ambushed and shot multiple times. Esqueda was taken to a hospital and did not survive. Satterwhite said officers were still searching for Palmer Thursday.

Whitmire asked for a moment of prayer for Esqueda before explaining the next steps the city is taking to better protect residents, more than a million of whom were without power Thursday (down from the initial 2.3 million customers who lost service due to Monday’s storm). The city is calling in 100 officers from other jurisdictions — as well as their own police vehicles, so don’t be surprised when you see a Dallas PDncruiser — to help patrol parts of the city where lights are most lacking. Asked where that was, Satterwhite said it was all over.

Whitmire said the city needs 2,000 more police officers and 500 more firefighters. To deal with the aftermath of Beryl’s crash, the extra officers will be in addition to the Texas Department of Public Safety officers already on the scene. It will also give a boost to officers who work 12-hour days and have their own families to support.

CenterPoint’s usual representative was not present at Thursday afternoon’s news conference, and Whitmire has repeatedly said the city is pressuring CenterPoint to restore power more quickly. CenterPoint has fallen short of its proposed goal of restoring power to all but a million people by 5 p.m. Wednesday, and with Thursday afternoon’s rain, more slowdowns can be expected.

Satterwhite said overall they haven’t seen an increase in crime, but the number of traffic accidents has increased dramatically.

“We have 1,400 traffic lights out,” Whitmire said. “I want the public to know that energy and electricity are also a top priority. We wouldn’t be having this debate if we had electricity.”

“At 7 a.m., I was on the phone with the CEO of CenterPoint to let him know that they needed to do better. They needed to communicate better. So yes, we will hold CenterPoint accountable when we do an assessment of the actions taken. But right now, the focus is on ‘keeping the lights on.’”

CenterPoint estimates that despite their best efforts, half a million people in Houston will still be without power next week, and concern is growing as temperatures rise in the region.

By saying he had something to say on a “dumb note” to clear things up, Whitmire responded to his comments the other day in which he criticized the Astros for having a ballgame with the lights on when 10 fire stations had no power or backup generators.

“I wasn’t criticizing the Astros. I was criticizing CenterPoint and the city of Houston, quite frankly,” he said. “We have to have priorities. If we can get power to a ballpark, then we can certainly get power to our convention centers and our fire stations.”