Snowy images from the winter storm - Page 7
Pictured is the Palabok Fiesta from Jollibee Missouri City during a recent visit. (Photo by Stefan Modrich)
WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 17, 2021
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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 45 • No. 26
Power, water shortages paralyze county By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
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Fort Bend County residents have been hammered by Winter Storm Uri’s below-freezing temperatures and precipitation that began Sunday and continued into Wednesday, leaving more than half of the county without power, County Judge KP George wrote in a tweet Wednesday.
In a Facebook post, George was critical of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott making a television appearance on Fox News and blaming green energy sources for the outage. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the flow of electricity for much of the state, said in a news release earlier this week that extreme weather conditions caused generating units “across fuel types” to trip offline and become
unavailable. On Tuesday, Abbott declared reform of ERCOT an emergency item for the current state legislative session and called for an investigation into ERCOT’s handling of the state’s power grid. “There is unbelievable human suffering right now, while our first responder crews are at stretched capacities. We Michele Medina fills a propane tank at Fort Bend Commissary Services, which has sold propane to residents who need it during widespread power outages. (Contributed photo)
SEE POWER PAGE 6
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Winter storm forces area schools to shut down By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
As a winter storm continues to freeze the Houston region, including Fort Bend County, there are impacts on the area’s school districts and county offices along with its transit system. All Fort Bend ISD and Stafford MSD schools and facilities, which closed starting Monday, will remain closed through the end of this week, the districts announced Wednesday on Twitter. FBISD said it plans to resume operations Monday, Feb. 22. The district-wide closures include all extracurricular activities and practices, along with meal services provided by FBISD and SMSD. The districts said no virtual learning will be required of students during the closures. “The safety of our community is our top priority,” FBISD said in a news release. “We strongly encourage our families to take the necessary precautions and prioritize the safety of your family, pets and property.” For up-to-date information about schedule changes due to weather, community members can call FBISD’s severe weather hotline at 281-634-4636 or follow the district’s social media pages @FortBendISD. To keep up with SMSD’s plans, visit smsd.org or follow @StaffordMSD on social media. Fort Bend County had also shut down all of the county’s main offices, though essential employees may be asked to report to work on a case-bycase basis. All of the county’s transit services had also been discontinued through Thursday, according to a notice on the county’s website.
From left to right, Mia Reyes, Aurora Reyes, Michael Reyes, Anthony Reyes and Noah Vera bundle up in the cold in Rosenberg. (Contributed photo)
Fort Bend residents warm hearts despite cold weather By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Alexis Geissler is among several Fort Bend County residents who have lost electricity in their homes this week, with her lights cutting out Tuesday night in Richmond’s Waterview Estates neighborhood. Geissler, a mother of two young children and the owner of CraftWorx, a doit-yourself craft studio in Richmond, had a decision
Mia Reyes makes a snow angel outside her home in Rosenberg. (Contributed photo)
to make when she realized her studio still had power. So she opened her doors to families looking to escape the cold and to charge electronic devices, offering free crafts to help entertain kids. “I know a lot of people in the community have kids, and I have kids,” Geissler said. “I just wanted to give them a place to come and get out of the house.” Geissler is among the Fort Bend residents and businesses trying to make
the best out of a frigid winter storm that has devastated the Houston area and much of the state, leaving residents without power and in some cases running water. Others have pitched in to help those in need, while some local businesses have braved poor road conditions and opened their doors to serve the community. Sugar Land resident Andrew Adams, the owner of custom homebuilder Covington Signature Homes,
drove into Houston on Tuesday to help a few of his clients who had lost power and were stuck inside cold houses. He spent about four hours at the home of Timbergrove resident Kim Ludlow, hooking his generator up to their furnace and then to the family fish tank, so the three fishes belonging to Ludlow’s 6-year-old son could survive. Adams went out of his
SEE STORM PAGE 6
Clements sibling swim duo puts eyes on state prize By Landan Kuhlmann
LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Clements High School swimmers Alex and Kayla Fu know two things are constant in their lives – the pool and their unwavering support for each other. Those things have converged many times in their lives, and will do so again later this month as the brother-sister swimming duo competes on the big-
Alex Fu
Kayla Fu
gest stage in Texas high school swimming.
Alex, a junior, qualified for the UIL Class 6A boys
state meet, scheduled for next Friday and Saturday in San Antonio, in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 breaststroke. Freshman Kayla was a qualifier in the 50 and 100 freestyle events for the girls state meet, which was postponed to Feb. 22-23 at San Antonio’s Bill Walker Pool and Josh Davis Natatorium. “It’s really nice to have someone that can encourage you, but isn’t competing with you at the
same time,” Alex said. “It’s a support system that’s important in high-stress times like the state meet.” Growing up, the pair said they realized their abilities early on while competing with the First Colony Swim Team at a young age. “Both of us are extremely competitive people – we really hate to lose,” Alex
SEE SWIM PAGE 6
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