FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — Fort Bend County residents are still feeling the impacts days after Hurricane Beryl swept through.
As of the latest update Wednesday afternoon from the county’s emergency management team, more than 135,000 CenterPoint customers living in Fort Bend County still didn't have electricity.
Herman Artuz lives in Simonton, a small city in Fort Bend County along the Brazos River. He told KHOU 11 News he isn’t looking forward to another night without power.
"I got a generator going. I’ve spent already over thirty gallons of fuel, it just keeps going," he said.
Artuz and his wife have been braving the heat at their home in Simonton for the past three days. He says there’s no other option.
“My wife says, ‘Well, we can go to a hotel.’ Where are we going to go a hotel? We’ve got three dogs and two cats," he said.
As a retired lineman, Artuz knows power outages better than most.
“When the lines are down and there are power outages, I’m one of the first ones they call," he said.
While living in Chicago, Artuz spent more than thirty years of his life fixing downed lines. He was deployed to places throughout the country during times of emergency.
“Those homes over there, they just collapsed and went into the water," he said about homes along the Brazos River.
On Wednesday, Fort Bend County emergency management officials gave an update on the status of their recovery efforts.
"We all understand it is hot. It is frustrating," Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George said.
County officials said cell phone service is spotty, there is a lot of debris that needs to be cleared and county buildings have sustained extensive damage to their infrastructure.
Cooling centers have been established in cities across the county.
“I understand. I understand what the guys are going through. They can’t do anything until they’re told where to go," Artuz said.
Back in Simonton, the retired lineman gets it. He said knows the crews working throughout all of this are trying their best.
He's also praying his little neighborhood in the western edge of the county won't be last on their list.
