Cutting fallen trees and hauling away all the debris left behind by Hurricane Beryl is backbreaking work. If you have to hire someone to help it can cost thousands of dollars.
Some of you are asking me how much of this work homeowners are responsible for and if there is help for those who can’t do it themselves.
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KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun spelled out debris help for people in the City of Houston. But what about people in other areas of Harris County? What about people in Katy, Hockley, Deer Park, Pasadena, Crosby, Humble, Tomball, Spring, Jersey Village, Aldine, Galena Park, Nassau Bay and other cities beyond?
When a tree falls on private property, it is the homeowners’ responsibility to pick up the mess. But some people who live in the Spring Creek Forest subdivision in Spring wanted to know if anyone from Harris County would be coming around to pick up the tree waste and debris if they can get it to the curb.
In case you don’t know, first you need to figure out which precinct you live in. You can reach your precinct if you need help and also find dumpsters that are available where you can take your debris if you are able to get it there. If you don’t know your precinct, you can check this map tool.
I reached out to the four Harris County Commissioners and Judge Lina Hidalgo’s office.
Harris County was actually just finishing up picking up debris from Derecho so for many precincts they will just continue those rounds of clean-up. But it is different in each precinct.
Commissioner Lesley Briones of Precinct 4 told us:
If debris is placed on the curb, it will be picked up. No need to place a request. Debris should be placed curbside, without blocking the roadway or storm drains. Placing debris near or on trees, poles, or other structures makes removal difficult. This includes fire hydrants and meters. If you don’t have a sidewalk, ditch, or utility line in front of your house, place debris at the edge of your property before the curb.
SEE ALSO: CenterPoint Energy: 1 million customers should have power restored by end of day Wednesday
Precinct 4 road and bridge crew members are working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. picking up debris. They will also cut trees to the property line not on your property but if you need assistance cutting trees on private property in Precinct 4 you can call 832-927-4444.
If you are in Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said they will get to your debris.
Check here for full statements from each precinct
Are you using the wrong extension cords on your generator? Generator safety 101
Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen joined me to warn about the common mistakes people make. In this picture you can see how far away you should keep the generator from your home.
Christensen also warned about using the wrong electrical cords. Check here for the complete list.
Hurricane Beryl vs Ike - is it taking longer to get power back for Houston customers?
People stuck in homes and apartments with no power are hot and the rhetoric slamming CenterPoint’s response to get it restored is getting heated.
Many of you are mad and emailing and calling us. You are demanding to know what is taking CenterPoint so long and why it is taking longer and longer to restore power after recent major weather events?
I went back to look at the utility company’s efforts after Hurricane Ike in 2008. Was it actually faster?
If you were here in the Houston area in September 2008 you remember Hurricane Ike. But that was 16 years ago. We might not remember all the outages and the timeline for restoring power. Here it is.
By the end of the day Wednesday CenterPoint says one million people will have power back, that’s within 48 hours of losing it.
A few points here:
We aren’t saying it’s not miserable. We know it’s hot. (Of course, many of us from the station are without power and our crews are out in the heat, so we get it!)
Yes, we are investigating CenterPoint’s response and what it may have done or not done to harden the system to prevent outages like this.
But we just wanted to fact check those claims that the restoration is so much slower. So far that doesn’t appear to be true.
RELATED: Live power outage tracker
Do you have a question you want Investigator me to look into? Email AskAmy@kprc.com.
