A support employee with the Houston Police Department was killed last Monday after getting caught in rising flood waters as Hurricane Beryl hammered the city.
In a statement posted to the Houston Police Department’s Facebook page, Acting Chief Larry Satterwhite said HPD Information Security Officer Russell Richardson, 54, was driving to work on Houston Avenue on July 8 when his vehicle got caught in high water.
In a press conference later that day, Houston Mayor John Whitmire told reporters that Richardson, who worked in the Office of Technology Services, exited I-45 on his way to work and got caught in the flooding. He called 911 but by the time rescue workers arrived at the scene, Richardson had drowned inside his vehicle.
Hurricane Beryl made landfall early on July 8 as a Category 1 hurricane. By Tuesday, the storm had killed at least six people in Texas and one person in Louisiana after earlier killing at least 11 people in the Caribbean.
More than 2.7 million people lost power as Beryl hammered the city last Monday. By Tuesday, nearly 2 million Houston area homes and businesses remained without power as temperatures in the city climbed, leaving residents without air conditioning to tackle the summer heat.
With frustration mounting over the lack of power, state officials had few answers for why the city’s power utility was not sufficiently prepared for the storm.
Nearly 36 hours after Beryl reached land, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced that NRG Stadium was being converted into a temporary hospital facility with 250 beds. The make-shift hospital would accommodate patients who were scheduled for release from area hospitals but had no power at home.
The stadium was also damaged in the storm, according to CEO Ryan Walsh of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation.
Houston suffered from heavy storms in May that knocked out power for nearly 1 million residents, flooded the streets, and killed eight people.
