---
title: "#205: From Hurricane Harvey to Beryl: Houston's \"One Family\" Emergency Response"
description: "Houston IT leaders share crisis lessons from 9 federal disasters: 311 system failure, 2.6M without power, and the 'one family' approach that works"
image: https://techtables.com/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-06-30%20at%2012.41.52%20PM.png
---

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 July 1, 2025

# #205: From Hurricane Harvey to Beryl: Houston's "One Family" Emergency Response

![Picture of Joe Toste](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/d79e02d2f67ca9987e895bb88cf1c034)    Joe Toste  ·   2 minute read

<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtoste/> <https://twitter.com/thejoetoste> <https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-public-sector-show-by-techtables/id1661752549> <https://open.spotify.com/show/0bFQBsDwKJkdNk2qENkhNL> <https://www.youtube.com/@techtables> [mailto:email@email.com](mailto:email@email.com)

 

 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1WRmjUROplI?si=fg5XbH_6uYjRovlX" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;"></iframe>

 

**Listen now: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@techtables) x [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-public-sector-show-by-techtables/id1661752549) x [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/0bFQBsDwKJkdNk2qENkhNL?si=387c7ae946694939)**

---

 

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### **Featuring:**

- [**Lisa Kent**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-kent-70437bb6/), Chief Information Officer, City of Houston
- [**Summer Xiao**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerxiao/), Deputy CIO - EAS/PMO, City of Houston
- [**Jane Wu**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-w-3670b325/), Deputy Director - Data Privacy & Business Operations Management, City of Houston
- [**Bert Quarfordt**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bert-quarfordt/), Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO) - IT Infrastructure, City of Houston

### **What You’ll Learn:**

- How Houston's IT team evolved emergency response protocols through nine federally declared disasters, building bench strength after losing key expertise
- Why pre-positioned contracts and vendor partnerships are critical for rapid emergency deployment without compromising standards or security
- How Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to 350+ city locations serving 2.6 million residents and the specific recovery strategies used
- The "one family approach" that transforms team culture through initiatives like Summer's snack cart and cross-departmental collaboration
- Why cloud-first infrastructure strategies provide essential resilience when local data centers fail during natural disasters

### **Timestamps**

- ([03:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=180s)) 9 Federal Disasters: Building Emergency Response Bench Strength
- ([08:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=480s)) Hurricane Beryl: 350+ Locations Lost Power, 2.6M Residents Affected
- ([12:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=720s)) Tier One Response: From Prep to Recovery Operations
- ([17:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=1020s)) 311 Crisis: Data Center Meltdown During Emergency Response
- ([25:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=1500s)) Keeping 911 Systems Operational When Infrastructure Fails
- ([31:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=1860s)) The "One Family Approach": Crisis Collaboration That Actually Works
- ([34:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=2040s)) Summer Snacks: Building Team Culture Through Food and Connection
- ([40:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=2400s)) AI and Cloud-First: Future-Proofing Against Climate Disasters
- ([45:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WRmjUROplI&t=2700s)) Crisis Leadership Lessons for Public Sector CXOs

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