Nearly one week after a deadly winter storm swept through Texas, toppling trees and bringing down power lines, about 20,000 residents of the state capital of Austin were still without power.
Temperatures were approaching the mid-70s on Monday afternoon, but wind and rain forecast for later in the week could throw another wrench in restoration efforts.
Cronk, who essentially serves as the chief executive of the city government and manages a staff of about 14,000 people, said Monday that he is “deeply proud of the City employees and community volunteers who have worked tirelessly since the storm hit.”
“I respect and honor the Mayor and Council’s role to ask questions, gather information and consider decisions in the best interest of the City,” Cronk told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“My focus and attention remain 100 percent on supporting City departments and marshalling resources to continue power restoration and debris cleanup, and to continue providing assistance and aid to residents and businesses who need it.”
Upwards of 150,000 Austin residents were without power at the peak of the outages last week, while about 439,000 Texans lost power statewide.
Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly called for an audit of Austin Energy’s response to the storm to investigate the adequacy of the city’s vegetation management plan, the utility’s operational practices, and other issues.
“As elected representatives, it is our duty to take charge when challenging times in our community happen,” Kelly said on Feb. 3. “During the February 2023 freeze, our community needed answers and didn’t receive them. This is why it’s important that we make an effort as a step forward to answer the call of so many Austinites.”
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