Winter storm left hundreds without power or water, Feb. 14-18
Two weeks after Winter Storm Uri left nearly the entire city without water and electricity, Pearsall councilors have extended a disaster declaration through March 24.
Harsh winter weather conditions wreaked havoc on the area from Sunday, February 14 onwards, resulting in the failure of three of the city’s four water plants. The water system shut down around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17, prompting a city ‘boil water’ order that remained in effect for a week. Many residents reported water outages beginning Sunday. Services were restored to most in the city by early Friday evening, Feb. 19.
Mayor Mary Moore signed the initial state of disaster declaration on Feb. 23; a council vote was required to extend the declaration beyond the seventh day.
“We have not come to a final dollar amount on damages caused by the storm,” City Manager Federico Reyes said of the ongoing repairs to the infrastructure. “I am recommending we extend the declaration until the twenty-fourth.”
The extension will allow time for the city to seek reimbursement and assistance for damages to infrastructure resulting from the storm.
According to Reyes, the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) has granted Texas cities the option to extend their declarations until March 24.
“We can try and submit expenses and see if we can get reimbursed,” the city manager said.
