Icy Weather Brings Usual Challenges
Municipal leaders thankful most people stayed inside
Icy conditions often lead to school and business closures, crashes, and power outages in Texas, so how did the Park Cities area fare during Winter Storm Mara?
“Overall, our emergency call volume was heavier than normal, but not anything like the winter storm in February 2021,” University Park director of communications and marketing Steve Mace said. “It certainly helped that for an extended period of time last week, people just stayed inside.”
Mace said the University Park Fire Department didn’t observe any power outages, but the department responded to 44 calls between about 11 a.m. Jan. 30 and 11 a.m. Feb. 3, including five calls related to people slipping or falling on ice, one water shut-off call, and one call about downed power lines. He said the police department responded to seven vehicle accidents during that time period, none of which reportedly involved any injuries.
Highland Park Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Lt. Jessa Russell said there were 76 power outages reported the morning of Feb. 2, and power was restored by about 6:45 p.m. the same day.
The town also responded to two accidents, two EMS calls, and four calls for assistance between about 11 a.m. Jan. 30 and 11 a.m. Feb. 3.
Highland Park ISD campuses and offices were closed beginning Jan. 31 and, despite early plans for a two-hour delayed start Feb. 3, remained closed that day too.
“Inclement weather decisions are always difficult. We want students in classrooms learning. Canceling school is a last resort,” HPISD Superintendent Tom Trigg wrote in a letter to the campus community Feb. 3. “When faced with inclement weather, numerous factors are evaluated with deep consideration and care, including the most current weather forecasts and travel conditions. As we consider closure factors, the safety of our students and staff is always the top priority.”
HPISD interim director of communications Tammy Kuykendall said the district hadn’t made a decision about the missed instructional time as of Feb. 7 but has two bad weather makeup days built into their calendar, as required by the state, as well as additional instructional minutes.
Highland Park Village spokesperson Kate Kutilek Leyendecker said businesses likewise closed during the week of Jan. 30 because of the storm, and many reopened Feb. 2.
“Stores did close last week due to the ice storm to ensure that employees were safe and sound at home, most reopening Thursday,” Kutilek Leyendecker said. “However, we were super busy on Friday. It was a beautiful day, and everyone wanted to be in the Village after being stuck in their homes.”
The Highland Park ISD board of trustees Feb. 14 approved a request asking the Texas Education Agency for a waiver for two of the four missed instructional days during Winter Storm Mara earlier this month. HPISD students will be in school for the bad-weather-make-up day April 10, and superintendent Dr. Tom Trigg said the district plans on using one day of banked calendar minutes to cover the additional missed instruction time.
