HOUSTON (Nexstar) -- At 92 years old, Gladys Goffney is hardly fazed by the latest storm to rock Houston. As she raked up the remnants of Hurricane Beryl in her front yard Wednesday, she recounted the many disasters she has endured over the decades.
Carla, way back in 1961. Katrina in '05, then Rita, Ike, Harvey, Alberto, Beryl. The names of hurricanes become markers of time for anyone who has lived in Houston long enough.
"You never recover from these storms," said Goffney while surveying her leaky garage roof. A massive tree was blown onto it from her backyard. "There's just no way to recover because they come so frequently."
Goffney said she has lost three or four cars and a couple of roofs to various storms. This one, though, was especially insulting: she had just finished cleaning up from the last major storm, just two months ago.
"It just puts you back to where you were, you know. You thought you were cleaned up," she said surveying the limbs littering her yard. "It kind of breaks your spirit."
After Beryl packed a sudden and unexpected punch, millions of Houstonians shared her exhaustion. More than two million lost power, and at least 13 died.
In downtown Houston, trees blocked roads and many stoplights didn't work.
Allen Parkway, a major road leading from downtown, is submerged at its underpasses by 10 feet of brown water. A rapid demand for air-conditioned hotel rooms blocked up roads from overflowing parking lots. And those are the fortunate residents -- the rest may resort to public cooling centers.
It's a frequently frustrating fact of life in the nation's fourth-largest city, and it has its people wondering - how long can we put up with this?
"It's just kind of remaking yourself all the time," Goffney said. "But I chose this, and I chose it 60 years ago. So, living in Houston, I'm always delighted to get back home no matter where I go."
Three days after Beryl wreaked havoc on Houston and southeast Texas, Acting Gov. Dan Patrick said that by Sunday, the number of Texans without power would drop to 500,000. As of Saturday afternoon, energy company CenterPoint's website claims that 566,470 customers were still without power.
CenterPoint continues to be responsible for the restoration of most Beryl-related power outages as the company has the most customers in the area.
As a Category 1 storm, Beryl not only caused these immense power outages but also decimated local infrastructure and generated a large haul of hazardous debris. Patrick addressed the reason for the storm's seemingly severe nature despite its low categorization in a press conference on Thursday.
"The eyewall came over a large part of the city with the most sustained winds and gusts, and it maintained itself for three or four hours," Patrick said. "So I think as people have gotten out of their neighborhoods, if they can get gas in their car to go somewhere, if they can, they've seen this damage, it's really unbelievable."
Patrick also said he would investigate the response to such debris and power issues and ensure they are better prepared for inevitable future storms that will hit the area.
"I know that we have a plan, CenterPoint has a plan to continue to invest to harden their transmission," Patrick said. "The transmission lines as well as the standards that hold those. And I think that's a wise investment they should take."
Patrick emphasized CenterPoint is accountable for its operations and is not state-controlled. He also claimed President Biden's allegations and the Houston Chronicle's reporting were inaccurate, and said there was no deliberate delay in providing or receiving disaster relief.
"We do not want the people of Texas to think they are going to be shortchanged for what they deserve to get, bottom line," Patrick said. "They were told one thing, and another thing happened."
Texas Division of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd said that it will be up to the Public Utility Commission to decide any punishment of CenterPoint related to the outages. This could look like fines, fees or any other regulatory actions.
"But right now, I want every person at CenterPoint to have one job," Patrick said. "Get the power back on."
CenterPoint Energy executive vice president Jason Ryan testified at a Public Utility Commission hearing this week, and said that they prepared for the storm by requesting 10,000 crew members to pre-position outside of the area of service to be ready to respond to storm damage once the affected area was deemed safe.
"Our crews are working around-the-clock, 16-hour work shifts," Ryan said. "We will continue to assess whether or not we have the right number of crews and whether we should bring additional ones in, and we will not stop our work until the work is done."
Patrick said he and Governor Greg Abbott plan to open an investigation into CenterPoint's preparation and response to the natural disaster.
President Joe Biden is making a stop in Austin Monday to speak at an event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Biden will deliver remarks at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library. The visit coincides with the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Republicans will discuss their party platform and are expected to formally nominate former president Donald Trump as the party's presidential candidate.
Several groups are planning to protest Biden's Austin visit, according to an Instagram post co-created by multiple Instagram accounts, including the following: Austin for Palestine Coalition, Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace Austin, Palestine Solidarity Committee, Austin With Palestine, and Party for Socialism & Liberation Austin.
Biden's visit comes on the heels of a June 27 debate performance against Trump that led some Congressional Democrats, starting with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, to call on Biden to withdraw from the race for president.
Biden's appearance also follows several protests held on the University of Texas at Austin's campus earlier this year, which primarily stood against the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and called for the college administration to “divest from death” by ending contracts with companies supplying the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) war in Gaza.
The groups planning to protest Monday accuse Biden of "funding Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people" and say he is not welcome here. The protest is planned for 11 a.m. but the location is not yet determined.
Two vastly different candidates are running to represent Texans in the U.S. Senate for the next six years and Nexstar sat down with both to give voters a better idea of the men behind the talking points.
CAMPAIGN CONTEXT: Fact-checking the Texas race for U.S. Senate
KXAN anchor Daniel Marin recently traveled to Houston to sit down with incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz at the senator's home. First elected in 2012, Cruz — a conservative who narrowly squeaked out a reelection win in 2018 — is looking for his third term in the upper chamber.
Marin also met with Cruz's Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, at a downtown Dallas restaurant that provides job training for young people emerging from the juvenile justice system. Allred, a civil rights attorney and former NFL player, was elected to represent the 32nd district of Texas in 2018, defeating a longtime Dallas-area Republican.
In unhurried, in-depth conversations, both candidates laid out their plans on the issues of border security and immigration, reproductive rights and the economy. The two also discussed their "styles" of politics and their personal approaches to bipartisanship.
Project 2025, a proposed conservative plan calling for a sweeping overhaul of the federal government, is getting the attention of Republicans and Democrats.
The plan comes from conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, a group closely aligned to former President Donald Trump. It would restructure federal employees, policies and agencies, including eliminating the Department of Education.
House Democrats say they are focused on defeating Project 2025.
"It's a collection of extreme MAGA ideas," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA. "I mean, this document is creepy. It's a takeover of the American form of government."
Over the past week many Republicans have distanced themselves from Project 2025.
Former president Donald Trump said he knows nothing about it. Potential Trump running mate Senator J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said the former president has his own plan.
"The media and the Democrats are trying to attach its most unpopular elements to the Trump administration. It's a 900-page document. I guarantee there are things that Trump likes and dislikes," Vance said.
Florida Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost says he's heard from voters about the plan.
"They're scared to death of Project 2025 and the far-right wing," said Frost.
When Kayla Muzquiz got out of the Texas foster care system, she didn't know where to start, and didn't have the money to hire a lawyer for help to navigate the transition.
Muzquiz's mom died in a 2005 car accident. She found herself in foster care at 11 years old. Getting out of the system proved to be another hurdle for Muzquiz, and she didn't have the financial tools or legal literacy to navigate the transition from foster care to adulthood.
It's why advocates want to see more funding for legal aid, to help low-income Americans get in touch with free services to help with their civil cases. For Muzquiz, this journey started when she was trying to regain possession of critical documents from the state, like her Social Security card and birth certificate.
While all citizens have the constitutional right to legal representation when being charged with a crime that could result in imprisonment, there is no automatic right to legal representation in non-criminal cases in most states. However, there are numerous free and affordable options available for representation in such situations.
"It's almost like you're starting out homeless, as soon as you leave foster care," Muzquiz said. "Because I had four Social Security cards ordered while I was in foster care. That wasn't me losing my Social Security information. That was the state losing [that] paperwork."
Muzquiz said she likely would not have been able to go to college and find her independence, if it weren't for the free legal aid she received from the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid's foster youth assistance program.
"A lot of people experience feeling alone. But sometimes foster youth, they kind of just feel forgotten," Muzquiz said. "So it's really nice to work with people who are lawyers and don't forget about you."
Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht is leading the charge in expanding civil legal representation access for low-income Texans. He testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday to advocate for reducing the so-called justice gap.
"The justice gap is what we've come to call the difference between the need for basic civil legal services, and the accessibility by people who have limited financial means," Hecht told Nexstar. "So on the one hand, there's a huge need for these services. On the other hand, they can't get them because they don't have any money."
Legal aid organizations in Texas support more than 120,000 families in need annually with their civil cases.
"That's the whole promise that it's got to be equal, that you're not going to be denied justice because you can't afford it," Hecht said. "In the criminal system, everybody, all defendants are provided a lawyer. That's just not true on the civil side."
Most legal aid organizations require recipients to have a household income level below 125% of the federal poverty Guidelines, according to TexasLawHelp.org. Pre-tax household income level and the number of people residing in a singular household are determining factors for this percentage.
Texas ranks 47th on the Justice Index, which assesses access to legal representation, self-representation, language assistance, disability support, and issues related to fines, fees, and consumer debt lawsuits. Hecht said having a lawyer to navigate civil issues can make all the difference for low-income families.
"A lot of the problems are simple for lawyers," Hecht said. "But they're like climbing a mountain for the person involved."
Hecht told Nexstar that more than 100,000 family court cases proceed without legal representation annually, highlighting a significant gap in access to legal support which he has been working to address for decades since getting appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in 1988. He emphasized the importance of this as a bipartisan effort.
"So this is not about politics, this is about just trying to get the job done," Hecht said. "Is it getting worse? You know, it's just such a hill to climb. It's hard to say we're not making progress. Again, we have more people paying attention to it. More ways of addressing the issues than we've had in the past, but it just continues to be something we've got to focus on."
The Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit organization providing civil legal aid, receives nearly $500 million annually in funding from the state of Texas. Hecht suggested that addressing the justice gap could involve increased funding and innovative approaches, such as utilizing AI for client assessments.
During his testimony in a Congressional Senate Committee hearing Tuesday, Hecht also suggested changes to legal education as a way to influence lawyers to provide legal aid.
"Legal aid lawyers can be recruited by offering special training in the law schools and licensing requirements," Hecht said. "So as to target legal aid practice, rather than just the general practice of law."
Last session, the Texas Legislature funded a request by the Supreme Court of Texas for $3.7 million, which would provide eligible children and young people in child welfare systems with basic civil legal services.
