Exclusive: County Judge Mark Keough gives update to Woodlands Online

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Woodlands Online reached out to Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough for an update to aftermath services and situations post-Beryl. Though Keough was extraordinarily busy on the road, he took time out to tell us the latest news.

“First off, we’ve been very aggressive with Centerpoint because we’re just not getting the information we need from them,” he said. “Entergy has been doing a great job keeping us updated with information, but we can’t get that same information from Centerpoint.”

Keough indicated that representatives from Entergy would be meeting with him this afternoon and he would shortly thereafter give a public update to Montgomery County residents.

Additionally, he informed Woodlands Online that there are some emergency distribution pods open today to give residents a cooling station as volunteers and county employees pass out water, ice, and meals ready to eat (MREs). Today until 2 p.m., he, Commissioner Matt Gray, and others will be at Bull Sallas Park.

Keough also stated that several county libraries have had their power restored and have been converted to cooling stations. These cooling stations will be open today and daily for the duration of the emergency from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Only cooling services are offered here; no food or beds. The centers are located at Conroe Central Library, 104 Interstate 45 North in Conroe, West Branch Library, 202 Bessie Price Owen Dr. in Montgomery; South County Branch, 2101 Lake Robbins Dr. in The Woodlands, and R.B Tullis Branch, 21569 US-59 in New Caney. Additionally the Cooling Center at the North Montgomery County Community Center at 600 Gerald Street is open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

“We’ll have more events and more pods tomorrow,” Keough told Woodlands Online. “Thank God for H-E-B, the Texas Department of Emergency Management, and many others for all they’re doing. We have warm bodies all over the place to help people out. At least 60 percent of our county is still without power.”

Keough encourages Montgomery County residents to stay tuned to updates as they occur; he is in constant communication with officials from Entergy and expects to have meetings with representatives from Centerpoint soon. Currently, downtown Conroe has power but has issues on distributing it properly, so currently the county courts are shut down, but things could change by tomorrow.

Stay tuned to Woodlands Online for updates.