Hurricane Harvey left us with countless stories of devastation and heartbreak. But with every story of sadness came another of hard work, outreach and compassion, as we witnessed the recovery efforts made by individuals and our own CenterPoint Energy teams.

After the storm, with our Emergency Operations Plan in place, our teams worked together to restore service in Greater Houston and along the Texas coast. The effort included thousands of natural gas and electric field employees, critical support roles such as logistics, human resources, communications, customer service, and community relations, as well as contractors mutual assistance personnel from seven states. We responded to 8,246 gas emergency orders and worked a total of 436,000 hours during the event, restoring power to more than 1.2 million customers.

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CenterPoint Energy has always been a force for Houston’s growth — and after Hurricane Harvey, we further strengthened our resolve to helping our city’s economic development thrive, rain or shine.

This commitment to Houston starts with consistently setting up our commercial and industrial customers for success. We lead executive roundtables to collaborate on tailored energy solutions and host seminars on power reliability, energy efficiency, distributed technologies and natural gas transportation services. CenterPoint Energy personnel also help boost Houston’s economy and provide hands-on support to help grow jobs through more than 50 leadership roles across dozens of economic development organizations. All together, these efforts are expected to yield more than 3,000 direct new jobs and $1.8 billion in total economic impact.

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As we dealt with the aftermath of Harvey, we kept our sights on Hurricane Irma, as it hit parts of Puerto Rico, followed by Hurricane Maria — one of the most devasting storms to date. Striking Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, the storm claimed lives, destroyed homes and left nearly all of the island’s 3.3 million residents without power.

While Puerto Rico isn’t home to CenterPoint Energy’s customers, we felt a strong desire to help. By December, widespread outages across the island left Puerto Rican residents still without power. Nearly 140 CenterPoint Energy employees volunteered with thousands of restoration crew members from other utilities across the mainland to help restore power to the devastated island.

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By August 31, Harvey had moved on. But while the area was showing signs of recovery, our communities were feeling the weight of Harvey’s emotional toll. That’s when many businesses, including CenterPoint Energy, stepped up to help lift all of our spirits and provide hands-on support.

Hundreds of CenterPoint Energy employees, families and friends volunteered thousands of hours, money and goodwill to our ailing communities. CenterPoint Energy ramped up efforts too, including donating to multiple relief organizations and creating a new relief fund for employees.

We are proud to actively engage in improving lives and addressing our community needs. It’s what we mean when we say we’re “Always There.”

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Recovery efforts took place throughout Houston as people returned to assess the damage to their homes, businesses and lives. But with flooded roads causing commutes of over two hours and neighborhoods littered with debris as residents mucked out their homes, the road to normalcy was daunting.

To support those faced with rebuilding their homes, CenterPoint Energy donated funds and professional resources to programs like Greater Houston Builders Association's BuildAid. And with the increased demand for newly constructed homes, we rose to the challenge, working with our CenterPoint Energy High Efficiency Homes^® building partners to ensure each new home exceeds energy efficiency building code — including tight exterior construction, high-performance windows, insulation and HVAC systems.

With each new home, a stronger sense of community is built.

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Harvey tested the resiliency of Texas' electricity grid and the response plans of energy delivery companies. Fortunately, CenterPoint Energy has spent the last decade investing millions of dollars in Smart Grid advancements and supporting technology, which helped us quickly restore power to homes and businesses.

With our Smart Grid technology, Advanced Metering System (AMS) and advanced data analytics, we restored power to 76 percent of the 1.2 million customers who lost power throughout the course of the storm – in less than 24 hours.

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The Texas Medical Center is the largest in the world, providing critical care for thousands of patients every day — so CenterPoint Energy has worked diligently to ensure they're protected and can maintain power if disaster strikes.

After costly lessons learned from previous storms, we worked closely with the medical center's leadership teams as they invested millions into major construction upgrades: a storm gate system around its facilities, an 8-foot wall around the center's substation and a co-generator plant to provide ongoing power during a storm – better positioning the medical center to weather future storms.

As Harvey approached, the Texas Medical Center teams put their own contingency plans into place, coordinating schedules, working with patients and bringing in physicians, nurses and technicians to stay in place during the storms. They'd anticipated a few days of enduring the weather, but like most of the city, they didn't predict that Harvey would bring the record-breaking rainfall that it did.

Thankfully, the prior planning and investments paid off, and while the streets filled with water, none of the Texas Medical Center facilities were affected by loss of power.

When it comes to protecting those who need it most, we've witnessed the kind of dedication and work ethic that we practice at CenterPoint Energy. We've seen professionals across all industries work, prepare and take time away from their own families to serve the customers, patients and communities around them. To be a part of it is truly inspiring.

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As Harvey's rains continued to fall, forecasters predicted even more heavy downpours for the hard-hit Fort Bend and Wharton counties, causing the Brazos River to rise further and threaten levees. This put CenterPoint Energy's Fort Bend operations staging site and critical repair equipment at risk of being lost. It was an unprecedented challenge that took ingenuity, innovation and an unyielding commitment to customers to solve.

Within hours, CenterPoint Energy moved crews and dozens of trucks, an office trailer, a forklift, and other equipment and supplies to a new staging site located 30 miles away. This allowed crews to continue to restore power to affected areas, including using helicopters and airboats to identify and navigate access points.

Our response to this threat proved to be a shining example of how our employees' quick thinking overcame a daunting situation.

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In the days after Harvey deluged Houston with a historic 52 inches of rain, floodwaters from the Buffalo Bayou encroached on our Memorial substation, which serves 8,000 people in West Houston.

Then, with the release of water from the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs, nearly eight feet of water filled the substation, damaging equipment and forcing a difficult decision to shut it down. CenterPoint Energy knew it could take months to repair the substation and restore power. We needed another solution to help those still without power – fast.

Quick thinking led to building a mobile substation in the only available space: the nearby St. John Vianney Catholic Church parking lot. Within a week, about 4,800 customers had their power restored. Through it all, the community never stopped supporting our work, including St. John Vianney's Father Troy who gave his blessing to the team's efforts.

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You may already know many of the ways you can prepare for a hurricane such as stocking up on water and locating the nearest shelters. But do you know how to protect electrical appliances and power restoration in your home? Increase your safety, mitigate damage and stay prepared with these simple tips.

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When the sun finally shone over Greater Houston, it revealed a dire situation: Damaged electricity and natural gas equipment was still inaccessible in many areas, creating potential danger for our crews and customers. So CenterPoint Energy implemented a high-tech solution — working with professional drone pilots to deploy drone inspection technology on a large scale.

With aerial infrared imagery and HD video, we assessed damage, evaluated work conditions and provided real-time situational awareness at more than 500 locations to our emergency operations command center. These drones also allowed us to maximize ground crew efficiency and give customers regular visual updates on their area through social media and the web, helping them make decisions regarding their safety and potential flood hazards. With this technology, we were proud to accelerate restoration and help customers begin rebuilding their lives as quickly and safely as possible.

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Just east of Houston, Harvey also inundated Beaumont, making nearly every road in the area impassable. CenterPoint Energy took extraordinary measures to help ensure the safety of homes and businesses – 18 employees even slept at the local office to accelerate responses for customers.

Heavy currents and debris severed one of Beaumont's main natural gas supply pipelines below the surface of the Neches River. The team knew that this line serves two industrial customers, employing hundreds of workers. The leak could also impact area residents and local wildlife.

As waters continued to rise, the team jumped into action. Together with the City and Port of Beaumont, they organized divers and boats from Beaumont's Emergency Management team to quickly shut down the pipe before the leak could affect surrounding waters. It was a dramatic example of how teamwork, ingenuity and commitment helped keep Beaumont's economy flowing.

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Although Harvey's rain finally subsided after several torrential days, the danger did not. Floodwaters continued to rise, submerging homes and businesses and taking 17 electric substations out of service. Still, our employees did everything in their power to deliver answers to customers' questions and assistance to Houstonians in need.

Through community-level communications across Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor and Power Alert Service^® text messages, CenterPoint Energy reached over a million people with important news and updates. We also fielded nearly half a million calls and responded to more than 8,000 important questions from customers on social media — including power and natural gas restoration information, which helped them decide when to return home and reopen businesses. And to help communities stay educated and informed, hundreds of employee ambassadors shared personalized power and safety updates with friends, family and neighbors.

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As Harvey lingered over Houston, it became clear that the damage wasn't from wind alone, but from something even more dangerous: water. Bayous continued to rise, bridges became impassable and water submerged 53,000 CenterPoint Energy natural gas meters.

While natural gas meters can operate safely under water, it certainly isn't normal — and floating debris could cause harm. So as the water receded, we immediately dispatched crews to inspect 130,016 meters and quickly identify any damaged equipment. Additional teams followed to make emergency repairs.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of the communities we serve is one of our company's core values. As the rain began to subside, our electric and natural gas teams continued to work around the clock to restore and repair vital services.

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As Harvey descended on Houston, dangerous conditions escalated quickly. Flash-flood and high water warnings, 42,000 lightning strikes and tornadoes occurred, trapping many in their homes or forcing them to abandon their vehicles.

To help ensure that our teams could work safely throughout the storm, CenterPoint Energy provided hotel rooms for customer service, natural gas and electric power crews near offices and staging sites.

Our Power Alert Service^® helped us keep customers informed of their electricity status, from outage to restoration. Then, a pause in the storm shifted everyone's attention to the dangers of long-term flooding that would soon follow.

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Producing 130-mile-an-hour winds and a 13-foot storm surge, Hurricane Harvey swept through with unrelenting force – stretching from Aransas Pass to Port Lavaca. With the area reduced to wreckage, many wondered how – or if – they would return to the place they called home.

CenterPoint Energy dispatched dozens of crews to thoroughly inspect its natural gas assets for damage along the Texas Coastal Bend. To help our efforts, we used the Picarro Surveyor, a vehicle-mounted natural gas leak detection system that is 1,000 times more sensitive than traditional technology. Over five days, CenterPoint Energy crews drove our Picarro-equipped vehicles more than 500 miles, searching for even the smallest gas leaks in order to prevent them from becoming a problem.

Hurricane Harvey's path continued to move up the coast toward Houston, accompanied by record-shattering amounts of rain.

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As Hurricane Harvey amassed power, the country turned its eyes to the Corpus Christi area. Residents frantically boarded up their homes to get ready for lashing winds – as ready as one could get under such conditions. And then, it happened.

Making landfall on August 25, Harvey wreaked havoc throughout Port Aransas and the surrounding area, causing damage of historic proportions. With a service area that spans most of the Texas coast and well beyond, CenterPoint Energy activated crews from across Texas and nearby states, and moved in to provide support as soon as it was safe to do so.

CenterPoint Energy crews took measures to protect the public and keep the natural gas system safe – but as the catastrophic picture formed, we realized it was only the beginning of the damage to come.

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Who could have envisioned the devastation Hurricane Harvey would leave behind? As quickly as calm skies turned to swift winds, raindrops became rapids. CenterPoint Energy was at the ready, advising our customers in Houston and along the Texas coast to prepare with our Storm Center checklist, while also encouraging enrollment to receive power outage notices through Power Alert Service^®. Even still, little did anyone know the extent to which our natural gas and electric crews, and many more heroes across the area, would soon jump into action to support our home.

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