CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Preparations have been underway since the middle of last week as the City of Corpus Christi braced itself for this weekend's arctic blast, which brought record low temperatures to the Coastal Bend area.
"Our first responders, and that includes public works, police and fire, did a great job placing their lives at risk helping these residents get home and get to safety," City Manager Peter Zanoni said.
Zanoni praised City workers as they dealt with Corpus Christi's worst freeze in year, but new problems have cropped up with the loss of power to a third of the city's residents. That also meant the one mega shelter for the city's homeless being put out of commission because of the statewide power cutback.
"The American Bank Center does not have a backup generator, so we're going to relocate the first group that we have, that's about 120 individuals, and those clients will be transferred to our FEMA Dome at Del Mar's westside campus," Zanoni said.
"You better believe we're going to be talking about a generator for our American Bank Center," Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo said.
Guajardo is concerned about the lack of power for city residents and is working with staff to try and help.
"Should there be someone who needs attention, maybe somebody who needs, who has oxygen they depend on, and they weren't planning on having to go through an evening with no power, we do know that we are ready to help them however we can," Guajardo said.
The mayor also praised City workers for the job they have done so far.
"It has been amazing to watch everyone work together and come together literally at all hours of the day and night, to regroup and to figure out what we need to address," Guajardo said.
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- LIST: School closures in the Coastal Bend due to inclement weather
- Warming centers available in Corpus Christi during this weekend's freezing weather
- AEP: Outages in Corpus Christi expected to continue through Tuesday, possibly Wednesday