CenterPoint Energy 2005 Annual Report Download - page 9

Less than a month after Katrina struck,
Hurricane Rita slammed onto the Texas-
Louisiana coast, leaving more than 700,000
CenterPoint Energy customers without
power. While we were working to restore
power to our customers, Houston’s mayor
called on CenterPoint Energy again,
asking us to assist neighboring utility,
Entergy, in restoring power to a pumping
station that supplied water to the city of
Houston and industrial facilities in the area.
For excellence in the face of these disasters,
CenterPoint Energy accomplished a rare double recognition by EEI, capturing both
the 2005 Emergency Response and Emergency Assistance awards.
Hurricane Katrina also greatly affected our natural gas operations, inundating
80 percent of our service territory in Mississippi. More than 350 of our natural
gas employees from other parts of our service territory helped Mississippi
employees respond to more than 10,000 emergencies to make the system safe.
Nearly 10,000 customers are no longer there to receive gas service due to the
devastation, but we remain ready to serve as the area redevelops.
“ALWAYS THERE” IN TIME OF DISASTER
CENTERPOINT ENERGY CREWS HELPED RESTORE
POWER IN WICHITA, KAN., AND IN CITIES ALL
ALONG THE GULF COAST. After an ice storm and four
hurricanes wrought damage and destruction, our crews
toiled more than 124,000 hours to restore normalcy at
home and away.
Early in the year, we helped Westar Energy restore power
after an ice storm paralyzed Wichita. We also assisted
Alabama Power after Hurricane Dennis swept through
Thomasville, Ala., FPL after Hurricane Katrina swamped
Florida and, later, helped Entergy in Louisiana after Katrina
left Florida and struck again on the Louisiana-Mississippi
border. We assisted Entergy again after Hurricane Rita
and helped FPL following Hurricane Wilma. At one point,
CenterPoint Energy simultaneously had crews assisting FPL,
Mississippi Power and Entergy in restoring power.
In addition, CenterPoint Energy’s assistance role was
expanded far beyond the typical wires and poles:
more than 230 company volunteers helped many of the
20,000 Louisiana evacuees who fled Hurricane Katrina and
took up residence in Houston’s Astrodome stadium and
the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center. The
mayor of Houston asked CenterPoint Energy to head the
city’s effort to provide for and take care of the evacuees
at the city’s convention center.
CENT ERPOINT E NERGY 2 0 05 AN N UA L R E PO R T [7]