How Texas law enforcement officials have responded to Hurricane Beryl
From water rescues to death investigations to cleanup, Assistant Chief Thomas Diaz, with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, breaks down how they've responded to Beryl.
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00:00Well, officials have confirmed the two fatalities as a result of Hurricane
00:04Barrel in Harris County, Texas. Crews continue to deal with downed trees,
00:09power lines and flooded roadways. Here to provide us with more details and
00:13updates on the situation is Assistant Chief Thomas Diaz of the Harris County
00:18Sheriff's Office. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:21Of course. Thank you for having me.
00:23All right. First, we hope you are staying safe. And as the day has progressed,
00:28what information can you share with us at the time regarding those horrible deaths?
00:35Sure. Thank you for checking on me and my family. We are all safe.
00:40We have had some tragic incidents here in Harris County,
00:43one in which we're the primary law enforcement agency, and that's in northeast Harris County.
00:47A tree did fall on a house. A family was inside. They were following,
00:52kind of the prescribed safety advice, and they stayed at home. And sadly,
01:01the hurricanes are soulless, and they knocked a tree over,
01:04struck a house, fell on the ceiling, and a 53-year-old man tragically lost his life today.
01:09So our hearts are with him and his family, obviously.
01:13They're going to have a lot to bear over the next few days and months.
01:20In addition, there was another law enforcement agency who responded to a similar incident in
01:24northwest Harris County, one of our partner agencies. And so, a very similar situation,
01:29in that a tree fell on a roof as a result of the wind and rain. And so,
01:34also, our hearts go out to that family as well.
01:38Yes, for sure. And what have rescued efforts look like throughout the day?
01:42And what plans do you have in place?
01:46So, we've been very fortunate in that we prepare annually, all year round for this type of event.
01:53We have a fleet of high-water rescue vehicles that we staged across Harris County. We also have a
01:59fleet of boats that are used in the event that there's high water, and that high-water vehicles
02:05can't reach people. So, we have, unfortunately, a lot of practice with this, and we also train
02:12for it. So, we have vehicle staged, we have personnel staged, and we have boats staged
02:18in strategic areas that we know we can get in and out of to respond to high-water areas. So,
02:24we were prepared, and we stay ready. And now, as we move away from into the recovery phase,
02:33we'll have other teams ready that are kind of specialized in different things.
02:37You mentioned moving into the recovery phase. Now, how has your focus kind of shifted for the
02:43remainder of today? Sure. So, obviously, our primary focus is life. So, we responded to all
02:51kinds of rescue events and people asking us for help to high-water rescues. And now, we're going
02:59to move into recovery phase, which means we'll help crews get in and out of areas that need
03:05to restore power. We'll escort people, you know, cleanup crews in and out. In addition to that,
03:12we also state, you know, where public safety is our primary concern and public safety agency.
03:16We also will deploy some extra patrols in areas that don't have power, because we want to make
03:21sure people understand that, hey, law enforcement's out there. We're there to keep them safe. And
03:26sometimes without power, folks feel a little bit unsecure, insecure. And so, we want to make sure
03:32that the public knows that we're going to be out. We've muscled up and we've brought in some of our
03:37investigators, and they're going to serve in a first responder capacity. That's great news to
03:42hear. Now, what recommendations do you have for people to stay safe? You said this perfectly
03:47earlier that hurricanes are soulless, especially when it comes to the downed trees, power lines,
03:53flooded roadways. I mean, people were doing what they were supposed to do. Is there any other
03:57advice that you would give? Yeah, I would just recommend that folks remain in place. The roadways
04:04start to become, you know, the secondary danger. And so, you know, for the time being, when you
04:10don't have power, you don't have, you know, stoplights. And so, folks forget that, hey,
04:15this turns into a four-way stop. So, if people can stay, remain where they are, stay in place
04:21as we try to get the power restored, that'd be extremely helpful. And then, you know, maybe
04:25check on your neighbors. If you know you have an elderly neighbor that might need some help,
04:31you know, just knock on the door, check on them. That'd be very helpful as well.
04:36Perfect. Thank you so much, Assistant Chief Thomas Diaz. We really are thankful to have you join us,
04:42and hopefully you and your family continue to stay safe. We will continue to check in
04:46with the situation. Thanks, Bree. Thank you very much.