City staff did, however, face challenges, especially as the winter weather prevented some from traveling to the city from their homes early on. Carrillo said that emergency response protocol usually requires essential staff to be present at City Hall and that the city should better outline specific requirements of staff in employee documents to help clarify needs in the future.
The winter storm also highlighted a need to purchase emergency power generators to run city facilities. While a generator maintained power to the city’s police building, Carrillo said City Hall and the city’s public works buildings were offline at times during the week due to Austin Energy power outages. Generators would allow city hall to be set up as a staging area or a shelter during future power outages if needed.