SAN ANTONIO — Officials with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) say they're assisting Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which killed several Texans and left millions without power.
Twenty-three SAPD officers headed to Houston on Thursday morning where they're expected to stay through at least Sunday as recovery efforts continue. Fifteen Texas cities in all, as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety, is sending help; 100 personnel in all were on the way Thursday.
SAPD says their officers will be assisting in a larger interagency initiative patrolling Houston's most vulnerable neighborhoods. Houston Mayor John Whitmire says the help is needed because of massive power outages, as well as traffic enforcement with more than 14,000 traffic lights out.
The cost of sending the officers will be covered by the state. Police will be taking their own patrol units and will be paired up with a Houston police officer.
Houstonians and Texans in surrounding communities are rebuilding in the aftermath of Beryl sweeping through Monday, when it arrived as a Category 1 hurricane. It toppled transmission lines, uprooted trees and snapped branches that crashed onto power lines.
By late Wednesday afternoon, over 60 hours after landfall, about 1.3 million homes and businesses were still without power, according to CenterPoint Energy. Typically sweltering summer heat along the Texas coast has added to the urgency of restoring power. Temperatures on Wednesday were back above 90 degrees, prompting Houston to open cooling centers for residents without air conditioning.
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