The following point of distribution (POD) centers are open today, September 15, until sundown. Each person can receive two boxes of water, two meal packets and one bag of ice.

• Second Baptist Church, 6400 Woodway, 77057 (Woodway and San Felipe in Memorial)
  
• Greenspoint Harvest Time Church, 17770 Imperial Valley, 77060 (Greens Road and Imperial Road)
  
• Community of Faith, 1023 Pinemont, 77018 (Ella Boulevard and North Shepherd)
  
• Fountain of Praise, 13950 Hillcroft, 77085 (Hillcroft and South Post Oak)
  
• Texas Southern University, 3600 Rosewood at Scott, 77004
  
• Ripley House, 4410 Navigation, 77011 (North Eastwood and Navigation, near Lockwood Drive)
  
• Windsor Village, 6000 Heatherbrook, 77085 (between Croquet Lane and Oakham Street)
  
• Greater Jerusalem, 8901 Jensen, 77093 (at Laura Koppe Road)
  
• Raul C. Martinez Annex, 1001 S. Sgt. Macario Garcia, at Navigation, 77011
  
• Zion Lutheran, 3606 Beauchamp, 77009 (North Loop Freeway and Jefferson Street)
  
• Old Kroger Location, FM 2920 at HWY 249, Tomball
  
• Jim Fonteno Courthouse Annex 14350 Wallisville, Channelview (between Purple Sage Road and North Channel Drive)
  
• PAL Gym, 2910 E. Southmore, Pasadena, 77503 (Southmore at Ennis)
  
• San Jacinto Community Center, 604 Highland Woods, Highlands, 77562 (Hackberry and West Wallisville)
  
• West Town Mall, 4100 Decker, Baytown, 77520, (Spur 330 at Fairway Drive)
  
• Baytown Courthouse Annex, 701 West Baker, Baytown, 77521 (West Baker at Hugh Echols Boulevard, between North Main and Garth Boulevard)
  
• Football Stadium Center at San Augustine, Deer Park, 77536
  
• Bay Area Community Center, 5002 NASA Road One, at Forest Lake Drive, Seabrook, 77586
  
• New Life Fellowship Church, 2104 Underwood, La Porte, 77571
  

Additional PODs will be made available on Tuesday, September 16. Please listen to local media for those locations; my website will be updated as that information becomes available.

Where can I get information about FEMA Assistance?
FEMA hotline: 1-800-621-3362

Where can I get information about Red Cross shelters in my area?
Red Cross hotline: 1-866-438-4636 or 2-1-1

When can I return home?

What grocery stores, fuel stations, and hardware stores are open in my area?

How do I get my power back on?

How do I volunteer my time or resources?

Should you need personal assistance, my district office is currently located in the Rush Room at the Taste of Texas, 10505 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77024.

Hurricane Ike appears to be headed our way; and some predictions suggest we could start feeling the effects of the storm as early as tomorrow.

Though we may not be hit directly, the destruction seen in Baton Rouge, LA as a result of Hurricane Gustav should serve as a precautionary example. We should expect strong winds, heavy rain, and likely power outages.

Here are some tips I follow to keep my family and home safe during hurricane season:
Listen to the radio or TV for information. Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects, like patio furniture, or bring them indoors.

Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Otherwise, turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting and keep its door closed.

Make sure you have provisions for AT LEAST 72-hours after a storm strikes. This includes food and water as well as other needed supplies, including a battery powered radio to get information if electricity is out.

Turn off propane tanks. Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies.

Ensure a supply of water for sanitary purposes such as cleaning and flushing toilets. Fill the bathtub and other large containers with water.

Don’t forget pets!

You should evacuate if you are directed by local authorities to do so. Galveston County is in the process of mandatory evacuation, and parts of Harris County should expect evacuation orders later today. The website Houstontranstar.org [link 1]is a great source for local evacuation routes and information. If there is any question about whether or not you should leave, call 2-1-1 for information or if you need transportation. Also remember if you live in a high-rise building, hurricane winds are stronger at higher elevations, so check with your property managers to see if they advise you to evacuate.

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Hurricane Ike has remained on its predicted path and appears to be slowly gaining strength. Currently, Ike is a strong category 2, but could move into a category 3 hurricane by landfall. The Houston area can expect to begin seeing impacts of the storm beginning late this afternoon, with hurricane force winds expected to hit between 7-10 P.M. tonight. We will see heavy rainfall, widespread power outages and severe damage from debris.

Please take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your family from these powerful winds. Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects, like patio furniture, or bring them indoors. Turn off propane tanks and avoid using your landline phone, except for serious emergencies. Make sure you have provisions for AT LEAST 72-hours after the storm strikes, including food and water as well as other needed supplies, including a battery powered radio to get information if electricity is out. For more information on hurricane preparedness, click here. here.

Your local news stations are your best source for updated information. Stay tuned and stay informed. The following numbers and websites provide up-to-date information and assistance:

Please continue to use common sense and to pay attention to local media updates. Your local, state and federal officials have seamlessly put hurricane procedures into effect to keep you safe, but you are your own best protector. more...

The eye of Hurricane Ike is poised to cross the west end of Galveston Island late tonight, and then head north/northwest across the Houston area. This will be one of, if not the, most destructive storms to hit the Houston-Galveston area since the Great Storm of 1900. All of Galveston Island is predicted to be under water for about 12 hours, submerged by a 20 foot tidal surge with 12-15 foot waves. Texas City will also suffer severe flooding if not complete submersion. Everyone along Galveston Bay must evacuate immediately.

West and northwest Houston will have a lot of rain and strong winds for most of the night. District 7 residents need to stay indoors, while residents of east and southeast Harris County and all of Galveston County need to evacuate. District 7 and all of Houston will suffer significant power outages, so be prepared to be without power for a period of time.

Please take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your family from these powerful winds. Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects like patio furniture, or bring them indoors. Turn off propane tanks and avoid using your landline phone, except for serious emergencies. Make sure you have provisions for AT LEAST 72-hours after the storm strikes, including food and water as well as other needed supplies, including a battery powered radio to get information if your electricity is out. For more information on hurricane preparedness, click here or here.

Here are two very good sites to track the storm: http://www.stormpulse.com/ and http://www.noaawatch.gov/2008/ike.php

Here is a list of emergency contacts:

I am working closely with County Judge Emmett, Mayor White, Governor Perry, and the members of the Houston Congressional delegation to ensure that coordinated safety measures are in place. As a member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I am in close contact with federal officials to ensure Houstonians have the resources they need to deal with the damage caused by Hurricane Ike. Thousands of emergency responders including the Texas Task Force and regional fire departments are on hand and prepared to respond. Shelters to accommodate evacuees have been set up in Lufkin, Huntsville, and Bryan-College Station. Our state officials have reported that petro-chemical facilities executed planned shut down procedures and secured hazardous materials.

Please continue to use common sense and pay attention to local media updates. I have been at the Harris County Emergency Command Center all morning, and Houstonians can be very proud of the superb work being done by our county, city, state, and federal personnel to coordinate our response and evacuation. I will update this website as often as I can while I ride out the storm with my family. As soon as it passes, I will be back at the command center and will update you again. Stay indoors, safe and dry! My prayers and best wishes are with you and your family.

John Culberson more...

Today we remember the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and reflect on the events and heroic acts that changed our nation forever. We honor the memory of those who were lost and pay tribute to the brave officers and fire fighters who gave their lives to protect their fellow Americans that day.

Though seven years have passed, we still remember those sacrifices that truly embody the home of the brave. Today is also a day to honor our men and women in uniform who fight to protect us and ensure that freedom endures.

The Pentagon Memorial will be open to the public from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT this evening. The opening will include a musical tribute featuring the Navy Band and the Sea Chanters Chorus, the official chorus of the U.S. Navy. This will be the first opportunity for the general public to view the memorial in remembrance of the lives lost on Sept. 11 at the Pentagon and on American Airlines Flight 77. To read the Pentagon's full release, click here.

Please keep our men and women in uniform and their families in your thoughts and prayers, and let us never forget those who lost their lives on this infamous day seven years ago.

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I am very pleased to report that the Katy Freeway reconstruction will be completed in record time, and we can expect to see it finished and the ribbon cut in late October.

My first promise to you in 2001 when I was sworn in as your new Congressman was to speed up the Katy Freeway reconstruction. In 2001, I was told the project would take 10-15 years, and was short $500 million in funding. The lengthy construction schedule and cash shortfall were completely unacceptable, so together with TxDOT and the Harris County Commissioners’ Court, we came up with a cost-effective plan to pay for the reconstruction. I won the federal permit for I-10 as the nation’s first Interstate highway with locally operated toll lanes, and our local toll dollars have paid the balance of the expansion. Construction began in June 2003, and just over 5 years later, the largest, most expensive freeway reconstruction in Texas history is nearly finished. As a dedicated fiscal conservative, I am also pleased to report that I was able to spearhead the freeway reconstruction without designating any new federal dollars for the project, even though I serve on the Appropriations Committee.

We are closer than ever to completing work on this monumental project, and the last major component of the project involves the permanent closure of the Katy Freeway HOV lane on Monday, September 15 to be replaced in late October by four high occupancy-toll lanes. At my request, TxDOT removed the concrete box canyon down the center of the freeway, and replaced the HOV lane with four EZ Tag toll lanes separated from the main lanes by white candlesticks. The Texas Department of Transportation and the Harris County Toll Road Authority are working hard to make sure the final steps move as quickly as possible.

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On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, at 2:30 p.m., it is my privilege to host FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach at one of my official town hall meetings which will be held in Room MSB 3.001 of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. We all know and admire this good man from his outstanding leadership over three decades at the Texas Medical Center as a physician, surgeon, oncologist, and as Chairman of the Department of Urologic Oncology, Executive Vice President, and Chief Academic at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. In September 2005, President George W. Bush appointed him as Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

Commissioner von Eschenbach is here at my request to see some of the latest research being done at the Medical Center, to meet with the heads of these great institutions, and to answer your questions in a town hall meeting format.

My principal goals on the Appropriations Committee are doubling funding for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and providing the funding that NASA needs to preserve our leadership role in space exploration. I know how important these investments are for the future of our nation, and I also know that Houston and the Texas Medical Center institutions will win a significant share of any objective, peer-reviewed grant funding because of the unparalleled quality of our researchers, scientists, and doctors.

Dr. von Eschenbach's personal experiences at M.D. Anderson and as Director of the National Cancer Institute give him an invaluable prespective leading the FDA and understanding your needs, concerns, and advice based on your work and experiences at the Texas Medical Center. I sincerely hope you can join me for this rare opportunity to speak directly to the FDA Commissioner, and to thank him for his commitment to modernizing the agency, speeding up the drug approval process, and for his devotion to Houston and our magnificent Texas Medical Center.

Parking will be at The University of Texas Physicians Professional Building Parking Garage, across the street from The University of Texas Medical School. Valet parking is recommended; the entrance is off Main Street between North MacGregor and University Boulevard. Signs and University of Texas Health Science Center hosts will direct guests to the Medical School.

Americans are fed up with high energy prices – with good reason. They have been victimized by a Do-Nothing-About-Energy Congress. Speaker Pelosi and her mob have been running Congress like the old, lawless Western frontier, where the Leader makes up her own rules and flaunts her position in the face of Americans.

As House inaction continues, a bi-partisan group of 10 senators has been meeting to discuss energy legislation. However, their proposal falls far short of utilizing all of America’s energy resources. Congressman Culberson, along with his Republican House colleagues, signed a letter to the so-called “Gang of 10” outlining the shortcomings of the Senate proposal. The letter urges the senators to consider an “all of the above” bill rather than a “some of the above” compromise.

According to Senator John Thune’s website, a co-founder of the “Gang of 10,” the bill focuses on transitioning America to alternative fuels for transportation and only adopts a targeted approach to domestic energy development. The Senate’s proposal maintains the ban on offshore drilling, with a small exception for areas in the Gulf of Mexico and permits only the States of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia to opt in to a leasing program. The proposal even creates a new “no drill zone” within 50 miles of the coast in areas where drilling would be permitted, permanently taking off-line some of the most promising areas for production.

This is unacceptable. The ban prevents Americans from accessing oil rich regions like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Without access to the resources in these regions, our country will continue to be dependent on oil from despotic foreign regimes like Venezuela and Iran.

For over a week now, Republican Members of Congress have been calling on Congress to return to Washington for a special session to debate energy policy. On Friday, August 1, Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi, adjourned for five weeks, ignoring demands for an up-or-down vote on offshore drilling and closing all debate on proposals to increase domestic exploration.

Congressman Culberson joined his colleagues on the House floor Monday morning. Though the CSPAN cameras and microphones are still off, Congressman Culberson took to the Floor, answering questions from visitors in the House Gallery and sending updates on Twitter and Qik, social media outlets that have allowed him to bypass traditional media and report the events as they unfold.

The use of these new media tools has been a key component of the Republican “uprising,” allowing them to broadcast their demand for action on energy legislation, but also demonstrating the power of the Internet as a means to increase transparency in government. He has acted as a citizen journalist, recording events, speeches, and interviews with his fellow protestors on Qik and sending instant messages on Twitter.

As the Houston Chronicle reports, Culberson “has harnessed state-of-the-art electronic devices to break through the Democratic speaker's attempted blackout of the Republicans' unofficial House proceedings.”

Dear Friends,

Tropical Storm Edouard appears headed our way; and some predictions suggest we could start feeling the effects of the storm sometime after midnight tonight.

After the destruction of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Houstonians know that no tropical storm should be taken lightly. While the winds may not be as strong, the rain can be even more devastating.

Here are some tips I follow to keep my family and home safe during hurricane season:

Listen to the radio or TV for information. Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects, like patio furniture, or bring them indoors.
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