Results tagged “harriscountyjudgeroberteckels”

More on the resignation of Harris County Judge Robert Eckels: The Chronicle is reporting that Eckels plans to make tomorrow his last day in office, and it looks like former state Rep. Ed Emmett will take his place. Eckels has "strongly hinted" that he will support Emmett to serve as county judge until an election can be held next year for someone to fill the remaining two years of Eckels' term — an election in...

So, some good news: According to a scorecard released today by the Department of Homeland Security, Houston is the best-prepared city in Texas to deal with a major disaster, scoring higher than San Antonio and Dallas — but the bad news is that that's not really anything to write home about, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said. The DHS surveyed 75 U.S. cities, metro areas and territories for their emergency preparedness, including advanced, integrated communication...

Harris County Commissioners Court gave the go-ahead for a private firm's proposal to redevelop the Astrodome as a mega-hotel, saying the 41-year-old stadium will no longer be a part of the county's disaster shelter plans.

If we have to evacuate from a hurricane again — and, for the record, we really hope we don't — things may be a little easier thanks to a contraflow plan now in place on some area freeways. The contraflow, meaning both sides of the freeway would be used to move traffic out of Houston, would begin at Brookshire along I-10, at FM 1960 on Highway 290, at Conroe along I-45 and near Kingwood on Highway 59. If you were around during the Rita evacuation last September, you probably remember how long it took officials to put contraflow lanes in effect because planning wasn't really done in advance. Not so from now on, apparently: