The Thomas Telegraph | Vol. 6, Issue 13 – July 19, 2024

Thank you all for your incredible patience and trust as we work to recover from Hurricane Beryl. Majority of our district is back online with power, however, we have isolated outages near Westheimer/Kirkwood, Gessner, and Piney Point with an expectant ‘live’ date of Friday, July 19th. Please visit the tracker here for more current details. We are not out of the woods just yet.

DEBRIS: 
The City of Houston authorized additional contracts to continue debris pickup from Hurricane Beryl and Tornado Derecho. Please move debris to the curb for easy access and report to 311. This helps with identifying neighborhoods and severity. I do not have a timeline as of today to provide you with more insight. However, Solid Waste is working to provide a tentative schedule. The good news is several neighborhoods in District F have already reported debris removal activity. All storm debris cases reported in the first two weeks of July should be completed by the end of the month.

If your subdivision has private trash collection, we will NOT remove your debris as it may violate your contract unless your HOA provides a letter (on letterhead) that states Solid Waste is approved to remove the debris. Send to [email protected] (Subject: Debris Removal)

As an aside, we have two additional teams (Career Recovery Resources and Hot Spot Team) funded by District F to assist homeowners with debris so they do not become victims of price gouging. If you are 65+, a veteran, disabled, or simply need additional hands to trim a tree, move branches to the front. Email me. Let us help you. [email protected]

FEMA: 
Harris County and the City of Houston are under a federal declarationallowing residents impacted by the Hurricane to receive emergency individual assistance up to $750.00 if they do not have home/renters insurance. For example, if you lost food, you can apply. Share this information about where you shop, work, and play. The link is available in multiple languages.

District F is working with the Small Business Administration to host an in-person workshop to support local businesses as they recover from Beryl. We are contacting the various consul general offices to share recovery information for foreign nationals in District F.

If you have homeowner insurance, you may not qualify for FEMA, but you may qualify for food loss. (I personally had to claim 6 leaks and food loss with my insurance company).

RED CROSS: 
We are currently working with the Red Cross to provide hot meals to identified senior multi-family properties. If you are without power, please reach out so we can coordinate additional assistance.

DISTRICT F TRANSLATION: 
It is no secret that we have an ethnically diverse community, which means language is critically important in times such as this. We need your help. If you are willing to offer your time and talent to assist with translation, please visit the link and sign up. Help us remove every barrier to accessing information and resources.

Lastly, I want to thank every resident and partner who joined my staff and me for our water distribution events. Your unmatched support makes the difference. In the future, I will share more about the District F disaster plan, which allowed us to move quickly into response. We were prepared and not in a panic. Beryl was a test run. We must get ready for the next one.

Council Member Tiffany D. Thomas

District F staff have been hard at work identifying apartment complexes and areas still affected by power outages. This week, we contacted these apartment complexes to coordinate water and food for those in need.