Houston’s ice storm that began Monday is described as the worst one to hit here since 1979.
As the rain fell that night, trees and limbs hit the ground. The calls came from across the town from Millstone Road to near Oak Hill Drive and Forrest Street, where the Houston Fire Department responded to a report of a tree on fire. At one point, the Texas County Sheriff’s Department had a running list of those reporting trouble.__Intercountry Electric Cooperative in Licking, which serves rural areas in the county, estimated its outage loss at about 700, according to a statement Tuesday night.
“We have major lines down and major outage, reported Bill Nichols, emergency management directory, Tuesday afternoon. “This has really been a bad storm.”
The Houston Storm Shelter at Pine and First streets, which has an emergency generator, opened at 11 p.m. Monday and closed around 2 a.m. when it had emptied. It reopened at 8:30 Tuesday morning and will remain open until there is no longer a need, Nichols said.
At about 5 a.m. Tuesday, a tree on the Leavitt property at Hawthorn Avenue and First Street was uprooted. Similar reports were received across town. Tree limbs and other debris covered roadways. Yards were littered with branches and large parts of trees.__
At the Houston Elementary School, a portion of a tree rested in the front yard. Classes were cancelled Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Down the street at the Skouby residence, a tree stands in ruin next to where another one was toppled from an earlier storm.
Nearby, the buzz of chain saws was heard. It was the first day of what will be weeks of cleanup – much like the 1979 storm that saw the city without power for 18 hours. City officials are expected to announce a plan to handle the removal of debris. From the digital archives: Read 1979 story coverage at houstonherald.com.