A tornado touched down in the Humble area during Saturday night’s storms.

According to Humble Police Chief Ken Thies, parts of a commercial roof were blown nearly a quarter-mile away, landing in the middle of a nearby neighborhood.

Multiple homes and businesses reported some level of damage, including fallen trees and roofs torn off.

Power lines were also damaged, according to authorities. As a result, power was knocked out for thousands of residents.

No injuries were reported.

The Red Cross has been notified to assist those affected by the storm.

Chief Thies urged residents to stay inside as crews work to remove power lines knocked down due to fallen trees and wind.

Source: click2houston

What started off as a run-of-the-mill investigation into a series of boat title discrepancies, concluded this past summer with multiple felony charges against three individuals suspected of running an interstate theft ring and the recovery of over $275,000 worth of stolen watercraft and other vehicles. Sergeant Game Warden Jonathan Griffin of the Marine Theft Investigation Unit facilitated an impressive two-year investigation into the organized crime ring leading to a nomination for the Investigator of the Year Award by the International Association of Marine Investigators.

“Considering that this is an international award I am really humbled to have been nominated,” said Sergeant Griffin. “I am very grateful to the Galveston County Auto Crimes Task Force and the other agencies across Texas, Alabama, and Florida who assisted with the resources necessary to build a strong case to hand over to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.”

Sergeant Griffin further explained that the case began with a tip from the La Marque Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Law Enforcement Office regarding an individual titling numerous jet skis in their name at very low purchase prices. Eventually, a Florida county tax office notified the Sergeant that the suspect and a second individual were also titling a number of jet skis in Florida in the same manner.

Over the following months, the Marine Theft Investigation Unit worked to trace the jet skis that were bought and sold by the suspects. The investigators uncovered that the jet skis being titled were actually stolen throughout Texas and then sold across multiple gulf states with false titles and identification numbers. Their work then identified a third suspect who had participated in the activity.

“After recovering  27 stolen vessels and trailers, we filed charges and arrested the three suspects for theft and engaging in organized crime,” said Griffin. “While the charges are pending, we are working to locate and recover more stolen jet skis and boats that may have been sold using the same scheme.  It has been satisfying to be able to help get this property back to the rightful owners.”

The case is currently being handled by the Galveston County District Attorney’s office.

Source: tpwd

Many media reports beat the warning drums of a dire situation with the state’s natural gas production last weekend. That is incorrect.

The Railroad Commission’s objective is to help ensure there’s enough gas to protect Texas residents. Power stayed on, lights were on, and gas kept flowing to residences last weekend.

Yes, production can fluctuate on any given day at any given hour for various reasons. However, the RRC has not received any indications that production decreased anywhere near the extent that has been reported. During the weekend and after, major producers we contacted did not report any drastic disruptions of gas production.

We have looked at data, and according to S&P Global analysis, production on the Texas side of Permian was up 570 million cubic feet/day on Jan. 3, largely a function of a return to normal after a one-day decrease in production on Sunday. This volume accounts for 2% of Texas’ daily production. Sunday’s temporary drop did not have a real impact on the gas market or the grid.

Again, there was plenty of gas flowing to power generators and homes.

The sources used in some media reports utilized pipeline nominations – which are basically contracted requests for space in the pipeline system to transport gas – to estimate real-time gas production. That approach is speculative and does not paint a complete picture, especially given that gas trading markets were closed for the holiday weekend.

The Permian Basin also saw a recent acceleration in drilling and completion activities. Since the start of the fourth quarter of last year, Permian operators have added more than 30 rigs to the basin, bringing the total to an estimated 300 in the week ended Dec. 29. In November, the number of wells drilled surged to a 19-month high at 300. From August to November, well completions averaged more than 400 per month – the highest since first-quarter 2020, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Production is just one piece of the puzzle to help gas flow to Texans and electrical power producers throughout the state. Gas storage plays a very important role, as well.

Processed, dry gas that is already in storage, ready to flow to homes and facilities, including power plants, is critical. It can lessen the impact of the potential gas market or production fluctuations. As of mid-December ahead of this winter season, the state had approximately 448 billion cubic feet of working gas already in underground storage.

A final point to note is that the first media outlet to claim significant problems from the cold weather, Bloomberg, has now revised some of its claims. Their early week article stated that nearly 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas had to be flared due to cold weather issues. But they have issued a correction that it was nearly 1 million cubic feet that were flared, a thousand-fold drop. One million cubic feet represents about 0.0035% of Texas production statewide.

Source: rrc