Houston, TX –The good news from Houston in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ike was that the George R. Brown Convention Center suffered only superficial damage and did not experience any flooding. “No floodwater entered the building,” said General Manager Luther Villagomez on September 15 as Houston continued to mop up after fierce winds and torrential rains battered the downtown area over the weekend.
“The three ground-floor exhibit halls are being used as temporary staging areas today,” Villagomez said. “We are processing several hundred people who are without shelter or have medical or special needs. We are feeding them and providing short-term comfort before transferring them to more-permanent shelters.”
“After Katrina we housed thousands of displaced storm victims from Louisiana,” he added. “This is by far a much smaller operation.
The situation forced the postponement and rescheduling of a number of smaller local functions, including the September 18-22 Theta Antiques Charity Show and Houston Antiques Dealers.
Houston’s Reliant Park complex suffered a higher level of damage. That forced the rescheduling of the September 19-21 Texas Home and Garden Show to October 24. The show is organized by International Exhibitions, Inc. The damage was reported to be from wind and rain at Reliant Stadium and Reliant Arena. An in-depth inspection was scheduled for September 16.
Reach Luther Villagomez at (713) 853-8036 or luther.villagomez@cityofhouston.net; Mark Miller, general manager, Reliant Park, at (832) 667-1400 or mmiller@reliantpark.com; Jolanta Mazewski-Dryden, director of conferences & exhibitions, International Exhibitions, Inc., at (713) 529-1616 or jdryden@ieimail.com
