ANDERSON, Texas (KXXV) — Grimes County has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Anderson-Shiro Consolidated ISD, designating the district as a warming or cooling center during extreme weather or emergencies.
- Grimes County would staff the facility if enacted
- Anderson-Shiro CISD would provide transportation if needed for a large evacuation
- The county hopes to have a facility in each community throughout the county
Grimes County has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Anderson-Shiro Consolidated ISD to serve as a warming or cooling center in the event of extreme temperatures or an emergency.
Grimes County Emergency Management Coordinator, Dione Bumpous, spoke with 15 ABC and said that during a minor power outage, local neighbors often stay with a family member or friend. But in a mass outage, they need a place to go.
“But if we have a wide-scale incident, weather incident, or a hurricane, there could be a possibility that multiple family members are out and they actually would need those facilities.”
With the hot Summer temperatures upon us, Dr. Sarah Borowicz, the Superintendent of Anderson-Shiro CISD says they are ready if needed.
“Like in the summertime, if we're looking at really record high temperatures and it's starting to impact power or anything like that, that's when we would use our high school to provide that cooling station if needed.”
Dr. Borowicz tells 15 ABC they have a generator that can run the entire school, along with showers and the cafeteria. Longtime resident Jim Westmoreland says the high school makes good sense.
“Well, I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. I’m not aware of any facility, any other than that, that would be suitable for that purpose in this area.”
Bumpous tells 15 ABC they are planning for more things in the future.
“The goal in the future is also to have some charging stations for cell phones and computers, so that people can have those communication lines still open with their family.“
Dr. Borowicz tells 15 ABC that locally, neighbors work together to get through tough times.
“I just think it's great that we are all in it together. We're a great community; we support each other, and we can all support each other no matter what's going on in the county.”
