In what was supposed to be a news conference on the latest recovery efforts in the city of Houston, turned into an in-door grilling of CenterPoint V.P. Brad Tutunjian, who pushed back on criticism that CenterPoint was not prepared for Hurricane Beryl.
"I appreciate the patience, I appreciate everybody's understanding, we are doing everything that we can to get this restoration done as quickly as possible" Tutunjian said, "We are committed to have over a million customers by tomorrow back on-line, and we're hoping that we're gonna start seeing some more progress coming rather soon."
But it hasn't been soon enough, as 1.5 million Houston residents are still without power. Many wondering, where are the extra 11,500 workers that where ready to go?
"From my perspective" Tutunjian told the media, "To have a storm pass at 3pm in the afternoon, have those crews come in in the late evening, and have everything ready by 5am to go out and get out and start the work force, is rather impressive."
Houston Mayor John Whitmire had a different outlook.
"We are holding CenterPoint accountable" Whitmire said, "I've had a commitment from them that they will restore over a million users of electricity by Wednesday. Huge goal."
Also on hand was Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who refuted a local newspaper report that quoted Joe Biden as saying Patrick and Governor Greg Abbott delayed federal Beryl aid.
"I appreciated the president reaching out" Patrick said, "There was no delay from the White House, no delay from us, in fact FEMA has seats at all of our emergency meetings. I've been with FEMA for the last 3 days."
With many more days of clean-up still ahead.
Photo: PR NEWSWIRE