Houston resident Sandra Jucha is one of many expressing frustration after prolonged power outages this week, questioning CenterPoint Energy’s storm preparedness ahead of hurricane season. Despite recent upgrades, residents say they’re still left in the dark.
This week, Houston faced yet another severe storm, leaving thousands of residents without power and sparking renewed public scrutiny of CenterPoint Energy's assertions regarding its hurricane preparedness.
Houston resident Sandra Jucha experienced a power outage lasting more than 15 hours as a result of the storm that struck on Monday night. As per Jucha with ABC 13, for her, this incident marked yet another in a series of outages, reaching a critical breaking point.
“I’m done,” Jucha declared. "A decision has been made to no longer continue with this situation."
She reflects on the growing frustration as the estimated restoration time was consistently pushed back. “The announcement of their hurricane readiness feels like a slap in the face, especially when we struggle to navigate through a storm,” she stated.
Jucha, along with numerous others, expressed optimism that CenterPoint’s Houston Resiliency Initiative—introduced following extensive outages caused by Hurricane Beryl—would lead to significant enhancements. In the wake of the storm, she faced a challenging eight-day period without electricity.
“Upon experiencing the incident once more, I recalled CenterPoint's assurance that we were prepared.” “I assumed we’d be back up quickly—and we weren’t,” she stated.
CenterPoint Energy has issued a defense of its recent infrastructure initiatives amid increasing criticism. Alyssa Oshodi, a spokesperson, reported that 167,000 customers experienced disruptions this week, but restoration efforts were largely successful, with most cases resolved within 24 hours.
Oshodi announced that the company has successfully replaced over 25,000 poles with models designed to withstand storms, buried more than 400 miles of power lines, and trimmed thousands of miles of vegetation. Officials announced that this initiative is a component of their comprehensive strategy to enhance the electrical grid.
CenterPoint has announced a significant improvement, reporting a reduction of 20 million minutes in outage time compared to the previous year.
Despite the improvements, residents such as Jucha remain skeptical about the restoration of faith. “If this is any indication of what’s to come, I’m not sticking around for it,” she stated, preparing for an unpredictable hurricane season on the horizon.
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