Texans pride especially strong at one local school

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston is covered in a sea of red and blue as Mayor Annise Parker declared today "Go Texans Day".

All over town, expect to see people sporting their Texans gear in anticipation of the team's big playoff match-up with New England this weekend. Team spirit is especially high at a school that has very close ties to the man who will be calling the plays on Sunday.

St. Pius is proud to claim Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak as one of its alums. He played football and graduated from there in 1979.

On campus today, students traded the usual school uniforms at St. Pius for Texans jerseys, Texans T-shirts and the like, just as fans across the city are.

The students are all dressed to show their Houston Texans pride, and pride in a person who once walked the same halls.

Students also created and hung signs declaring their support for the St. Pius alum.

"I think it's just big that we continue to support him," said St. Pius student Kohl Stewart. "It makes it fun that he's one of us and his name is everywhere and he's the face of the franchise."

"To feel like that man went here, it just makes the Texans pride that much more here," added student Jourdan Alvarez.

"It's amazing, especially since he's such a hard worker and everything he's done is incredible," said student Brianna Santiago.

Don't forget to catch our 'Houston Texans: Road to the Ring' special Friday at 7pm on ABC13, as the Texans try to take another major step to their first Super Bowl.
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Strong cold front and windstorm arrive, but warm weather returns for Christmas

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- After record breaking high temperatures yesterday, a cold, blustery day is hitting the area today and tomorrow. The strong cold front arrived overnight with a line of showers and storms, and sent temperatures down into the mid-50s shortly before sunrise.

This time, the wind will be a bigger story than the cold. Winds behind the front will blow out of the northwest at 25-35 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph near the coast. Gale warnings are up along the coast for this morning and 'low water advisories' have been posted for Galveston and Matagorda Bays, as the strong winds shove water out of the bays and into the Gulf. Tides will run 1-2 feet below normal, which will make navigating the bay and ship channel more treacherous.

Once the winds settle down tonight, expect a widespread light freeze across southeast Texas tomorrow morning as astronomical winter officially begins (5:12am local time).

The run up to Christmas looks very warm after that, but a strong cold front arriving on or around Christmas Day will make it feel like winter again later in the week. There is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty with the timing and strength of the winter storm next week. Stay tuned.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Weather »

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Strong winds cause exploding transformers, power outages around Houston area

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The strong winds overnight led to exploding transformers and power outages across town.

We caught several explosions from our Tower Cam HD above the ABC13 studios in southwest Houston. You'll need to watch out for intersections that do not have lights because of power outages.

CenterPoint Energy reports just under 14,000 homes and businesses are without power as of 9:45am. That's down from a peak of close to 61,000 at around 3am.

Those outages are scattered from southeast Houston to The Woodlands.

Meteorologist Casey Curry says wind advisories are posted across our area today. Look for widespread 40-50mph wind gusts. One wind gust was clocked in at 61 miles per hour at around 3:45 this morning in Bayou Vista.

Be careful on the roads this morning as you may run into road debris throughout your morning drive.

Some ABC13 viewers have sent us photos of the power outages and wind damage across the area. We've seen tree branches in the Heights near the North Freeway and North Main, as well as a downed tree in a neighborhood off Beechnut in southwest Harris County.

You can send your photos to news@abc13.com, but please don't put yourself in harm's way to get the shot.

Many of you are also talking about the outages from the wind on Twitter and Facebook. One of our viewers writes that electricity went out at around 4:30am in Spring. Another says the power remains out in Magnolia. There are also reports of outages on our Facebook page from Friendswood and the Gulfgate area.

We want to hear from you about conditions where you are. Post to our Facebook page or Tweet your report with the hashtag #abc13.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Strong storms leave behind high water

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- People across southeast Texas were in clean-up mode Saturday after severe storms swept through overnight.

Heavy rains flooded streets and strong wind knocked out power to some homes.

Moving in waves, rain turned creeks into fast-moving rivers, streets into lakes and curbs into waterfalls.

"I mean, the creek is in the yard!" said Eugene Curtis, who lives near Clear Creek.

Fort Bend County was one of the hardest areas hit by the storms Friday night.

Rain poured down for hours, which left a mess for motorists Saturday morning.

Water was six feet deep in some places at the intersection of Highway 90 and the Grand Parkway, shutting down traffic and leaving cars stranded.

People who live nearby couldn't resist snapping pictures.

"I knew it rained a lot, but I did not expect to find this this morning," Les Polvado said.

Water flowed into the intersection from higher ground, keeping water levels rising for hours even after it stopped raining.

"My son had to call in because he couldn't get into work. I imagine it's going to slow a lot of people down," Adolph Garcia said.

Some businesses were even closed for most of the morning.

"I say I need to open the store. He said, 'lady, move, move," Margarita Armenta with Pilgrim's Dry Cleaners said.

Miguel Sandbal managed to open his Mexican restaurant, but customers never arrived.

"I still have to pay all my employees and I'm not going to have any customers. The police won't let anybody come in to get breakfast or lunch," he said.

Just a mile away, the Sugar Land Airport was still open, but barely recognizable. The runway was buried under feet of water.

Ann Smith, an employee of a restaurant in Fort Bend County, described to us what it was like inside her work place when the rain hit Friday night.

"It was hitting the windows of the restaurant and it would come and it would be there for 10 minutes and our lights flickered and everything and it would stop and it came back and it stopped; so thankfully I'm trying to get to my car before it starts pouring again," she said.

In Katy, a Tornado Warning caught the attention of parents at a school play inside Beckendorff Junior High School. At one point, attendees moved into the gymnasium but later continued the program. When the rain finally hit, it hit hard off the Grand Parkway in Cinco Ranch; the rain almost came down sideways.

In southwest Houston, a huge lightning strike was captured on video. Video from our Tower Cam also captured at least one transformer blow out.

We also caught up with the storm as it moved through the Garden Oaks area near 38th Street and Shepherd. There was lots more rain at the Katy Freeway and Shepherd and the Kirby/Richmond areas. The storm brought lightning and hail along with the rain.

And around 9pm, small hail started falling over the KTRK-TV studio in southwest Houston.

If you caught photos or video of this event, you can upload them at iWitness.abc13.com or email them to news@abc13.com.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Rain begins today; strong storms possible tomorrow

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Keep the umbrellas handy the next couple of days. You're going to need them.

ABC-13 Meteorologist Casey Curry says we can expect scattered, mostly light showers early Tuesday. A warm front will lift north from the Gulf, spreading those showers in our direction. We could also see a bit of fog near the coast.

Rain and storm chances increase Tuesday night and Wednesday, both in coverage and intensity. We're expecting between 1-3 inches of rain across much of southeast Texas and there is a chance of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.

Right now, the worst of the weather will likely be Wednesday by 7am near the La Grange and Brenham area and into the Houston area by mid-morning through early afternoon.

A cold front should clear the coast in the afternoon, which should mark the end of our chances for severe weather. However, we will still likely see clouds and light rain into early Thursday.

As always, count on the ABC-13 Eyewitness weather team and abc13.com for the very latest on our changing weather. You can also get the latest watches and warnings and live Mega Doppler 13 radar by downloading our free apps. And you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

A little more than two weeks ago, the Houston area saw downpounrs and tornadoes that caused widespread damage and flooding. Check out photos from that day across the Houston area.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Strong winds caught on video at auto shop

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There was a big scare for workers at a southwest Houston auto shop.

Strong winds forced them to run for cover and it was caught on video. Surveillance video was taken at Cartronix during the peak of yesterday's storm.

The video shows the manager ordering his employees to close the bay doors as the wind outside begins to pick up. That's when the wind blew one of the doors off. It flew and hit one of the workers. He went to the hospital with a shoulder injury.

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Strong winds may have re-ignited house fire

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Firefighters had to make two trips to a house in southeast Houston.

The home on Roper near Edgebrook caught fire late yesterday afternoon. The fire re-ignited around 11pm last night. Emergency crews were able to knock out the fire.

Strong winds are believed to have caused the embers in the attic to reignite. No one was hurt.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) 

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