The Bexar County Jail was seriously affected by Friday night’s storm winds. More than 4,800 inmates were left without air conditioning, and water was leaking in from the roof.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar says intake and processing of inmates was delayed as jail deputies were forced to use laptops, which they struggled to charge because only some of the outlets worked while they were on backup power.
Salazar says the sheriff’s drone unit was up flying over the jail Monday and found some roof damage that may have caused water to leak in.
And they had reduced the processing backlog caused by the power outage.
“Electricity did go out. Thankfully, we have emergency generators to kick on. But those emergency generators aren’t as if everything is running smoothly. They’re very limited on what they’ll do. So basically, keep the lights on, but the air conditioner doesn’t work,” Salazar told the News 4 I-Team.
“How hot did it get because of the air conditioning?” asked the I-Team’s Jaie Avila.
“Well, my understanding is it did stay within jail standards for the most part,” the sheriff responded.
Texas jail standards say temperatures should be kept below 85 degrees.
Salazar said inmates were uncomfortable, but they were supplied with cold water.
“I certainly gave the order that said, look, if they want to take a shower at two in the morning, let them take a shower,” Salazar said.
He told the I-Team the jail remained on generators until Sunday morning when CPS Energy fully restored power.