HOUSTON – More than 14 million Texans still do not have safe drinking water in their homes after a powerful winter storm burst pipes and knocked out power across the state this week. Toby Baker, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the number of the state’s 7,000 public water systems affected by the winter storm has increased from Friday to 1,445, but the population affected by those water systems has dropped slightly to 14.3 million. He said about 156,000 homes have no water service at all, which is down from 352,000 reported Friday. Kidd said the state has also ordered 250,000 meals-ready-to-eat to be distributed with another 5 million meals on the way. Kidd said Texans can also help the state complete its damage assessment faster by completing an online form to report damage that their property has sustained.

HOUSTON Several people lined up outside of the Mexican Consulate near Midtown waiting to be tested Wednesday morning. The Houston Health Department has set up 20 free testing sites across Houston, including four mega-sites. People needing information about UMMC test sites can call 1-866-333-COVID or visit ummcscreening.com. The department and its agency partners may shift locations and schedules of test sites to better meet community needs. Houstonians can visit HoustonEmergency.org/covid19 for current Houston testing sites and information about stopping the spread of the virus.

All rights reserved)HOUSTON – The Houston Health Department announced the schedule for more than 20 free COVID-19 testing sites Monday. On average, testing site labs report providing COVID-19 test results to people within four days. “We currently have more testing capacity in Houston than any time during the pandemic but the number of people getting tested continues to decrease,” said. The health department is providing test kits, lab access and equipment to local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) so they can expand their COVID-19 testing capacity. The centers and phone numbers people can call to set up testing appointments are: